Mercier Leads Men’s Lacrosse with Six Goals to Take Down Cadets

NORTHFIELD, VT: Rivier men's lacrosse won against Norwich University today on the road in conference play.

THE BASICS:

- Date: 3/28/23

- Score: Rivier 13, Norwich 7

- Records: Rivier (6-2, 2-1 GNAC), Norwich (1-8, 0-3 GNAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

- Rivier earned eight goals in the first quarter, Norwich was only able to get one. Connor Eck (Franklin, MA) started the scoring for the Raiders with an assist from Coby Mercier (Boscawen, NH). Less than a minute later, Jeffery Potter (North Bennington, VT) passed to Chris Heitmiller (Nashua, NH) who netted another for Riv. Potter then added on his own goal with an assist credited to Nicholas Tavares (Danvers, MA). Callum Jones slipped in the first Cadet goal at 10:27 in the first quarter. Mercier scored two back-to-back goals for Riv with an assist on the second from Eck. Raiders' Alan Cozzolino (Hamden, CT) added on an unassisted goal. Mercier scored his third goal of the game late in the first. Potter found Tavares near the net who blasted in the final Raiders goal of the quarter.

- At 14:05 in the second quarter, Alex Johnston found Jones who recorded a Cadets goal. Tavares answered back by firing in a Rivier goal with an assist granted to Potter. While the Raiders were man down, Johnston of Norwich launched in a goal with an assist from Jones. With 1:44 on the clock, Tyler Seidel earned an unassisted goal for the Cadets.

- The Raiders were unable to score in the third quarter but held Norwich to two goals. Matt Meehan scored 30 seconds into the quarter for the Cadets, with an assist credited to Seidel. A few minutes later Seidel snuck by Rivier's defenders to put away a goal of his own.

- In the fourth quarter, Eck took advantage on the man up opportunity to score for the Raiders. Mercier of Rivier buried three goals with an assist on the last from Michael Ference (Salem, NH). Seidel scored the only goal for the Cadets in the fourth quarter.

- Rivier's Mercier scored a career-high of six goals today at Norwich University.

- Sawyer Gagnon (Gorham, ME) of Rivier was tagged with the win, saving six shots. Thomas Kelliher earned the start for Norwich but was pulled in the first quarter. Luke Boland was in net for the majority of the game, recording 19 saves for the Cadets.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

- Shots: Rivier 46, Norwich 35

- Ground Balls: Rivier 38, Norwich 35

- Penalties: Norwich 4 minutes 30 seconds on 4 infractions, Rivier 1 minute 30 seconds on 2 infractions

UP NEXT:

- Rivier men's lacrosse will face the University of Saint Joseph Saturday, April 1^st at 3:30 PM in conference play.

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