Men’s Lacrosse Rolls Past JWU-Providence in GNAC Quarterfinals, 16-3

NASHUA, N.H. – The Rivier men's lacrosse team rolled past JWU-Providence in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon at Merrill Field, winning by a final score of 16-3.

The Raiders, the No. 1 seed in the North Division, improved to 11-6 with the win. The South's fourth-seeded Wildcats conclude their 2024 campaign with a 9-7 overall record.

Thanks to a two-goal performance in the opening period by Michael Zapatka, the Raiders got out to a 4-1 lead heading into the second quarter.

Chris Heitmiller scored a hat trick in the second frame as Rivier shutout the Wildcats, 7-0, to take a commanding 11-1 lead into the locker room.

Zapatka scored twice more in the opening 1:42 of the third to improve the Raiders' lead to a dozen. After a Connor Eck goal was sandwiched by a pair of JWU tallies, Heitmiller scored his fifth of the outing with eight seconds left in the quarter, giving the hosts a 15-3 lead.

Heitmiller took advantage of a man-up opportunity in the middle of the fourth quarter to round out the scoring for the afternoon as Riv held on for a 16-3 victory to secure a spot in Wednesday's semifinal round.

Rivier's leading point-scorer was Heitmiller who scored six goals and tacked on an assist to finish with seven points. Zapatka (five goals, one assist) followed behind with six. Jeffrey Potter (one goal, four assists) recorded five points while Coby Mercier's two goals and two assists were good for a four-point performance.

Parker Williams registered a caused turnover along with four ground balls.

The Raiders went 15-for-23 on faceoffs, with Owen McDuffie going 6-for-9, Dylan Fonseca going 4-for-7, and Noah Zeman going 5-for-7.

In his seventh win of the campaign, Sawyer Gagnon made 14 saves on 17 shots on target.

Riv finished nearly perfect on the clear with 23 successful clears on 24 tries.

Next up, Rivier will host the South Division's second seed, Dean, in the GNAC Semifinals on Wednesday, May 1 with the opening faceoff set for 7:00 p.m. at Merrill Field. The Raiders and the Bulldogs met in Nashua during the regular-season, with Rivier coming away with a 13-8 win back on March 25.