Men’s Lacrosse Uses Second Half Surge To Down Hartwick, 12-6

NASHUA, N.H. – The Rivier men's lacrosse team outscored its opponents, 8-2, in the final 30 minutes of action to pull away with a 12-6 non-conference victory over Hartwick on Wednesday evening at Merrill Field.

The Raiders improved to 3-4 with the victory while the Hawks fell to 2-4.

Rivier used goals from Michael Zapatka, Michael Ference, and Nicholas Tavares in the first quarter as the score was knotted at 3-3 after 15 minutes.

Both squads traded goals in the second, producing a tie game at halftime.

The Raiders came out of the break hot, scoring three straight goals to lead 7-4. After Hartwick converted on a man-up opportunity to cut the deficit to two, Coby Mercier scored his second of the frame with just 17 seconds left before the buzzer to reclaim the home team's three-goal margin.

In the fourth, Chris Heitmiller recorded his 100th career point on an unassisted tally just 47 seconds into the period. Mercier then capped off the hat trick 1:16 later with an unassisted strike of his own to make it 10-5. Hartwick would record just one goal in the fourth before Ference scored on a man-down situation before Tavares put the bow on the game, scoring with one minute to play off a caused turnover by Zapatka.

Senior goalkeeper Sawyer Gagnon shined in between the pipes, making 17 saves on 23 shots on net in his second victory.

Mercier's four points were a team-high. Adam Hailey caused two turnovers and recorded five ground balls on defense in the triumph.

Rivier will host Dean in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) battle at Merrill Field on Saturday, March 23 beginning at noon.