Raiders Continue To Roll - Win 19-6 Over Mt. Ida

NEWTON, Mass. – Rivier University's women's lacrosse team won 19-6 over conference foe Mount Ida College.  Jessica Amaral (East Providence, R.I.) and Rebecca Wickens (Tyngsboro, Mass.)  led the way for the Raiders while combining for ten goals.

With the win, Rivier improves to 3-1 (2-0 GNAC) while Mount Ida drops to 2-6 (0-3 GNAC). 

Rivier started the game off scoring the first five goals of the game and pulling on top 5-0 at the 16:58 mark.  Amanda Wickens (Tyngsboro, Mass.) notched the first goal of the game while Amaral and Wickens both tallied two goals apiece.  Amanda Bowen (Randolph, Vt.) scored her first goal of the contest for Mount Ida at the 16:26 mark cutting into the visitors lead at 5-1.

Raiders junior midfielder Savannah Neuwirt (Newbury, N.H.) regained the five goal cushion for Rivier with her fifth goal of the season before Bowen again retaliated with a goal of her own while keeping the hosts within striking distance at 6-2. 

The Raiders then continued their scoring spree by scoring eight straight goals to take a commanding 14-2 lead before Mustang  Kaitlyn Affhauser (Chesire, Mass.) notched her only goal of the contest with just 0:18 seconds remaining in the half.  Amanda Wickens tallied her second marker of the game while Rebecca Wickens scored twice during the spree.  Elena Reilly (Braintree, Mass.) notched a hat trick during the scoring surge while teammate Paxton LaRocque (Londonderry, N.H.) scored her only goal of the afternoon.  The remaining few seconds would run out and the Raiders would maintain the 14-2 lead.

The second half, much like the first, started off with Rivier scoring the first four goals of the half and adding to their lead at 18-3.  Amanda Wickens scored her final goal of the game with Amaral scoring twice, and Rebecca Wickens tallying her fifth and final score.

Mount Ida scored three straight goals off the sticks of Rebecca Beaulieu (Weare, N.H.), Samantha Basler (Plymouth, Mass.) and Nicole Batakis (East Longmeadow, Mass.) to cut into the visitors lead at 18-6.  Neuwirt scored her 6^th goal of the season for Rivier and the Raiders would take the Great Northeast Athletic Conference victory.

Junior Sammy Levitt (Wayland, Mass.) took the loss for Mount Ida while Raider goalie Danielle Moran (San Diego, CA) improved her record to 3-1 on the year.

Rivier outshot the Mustangs by a total of 31-18, putting 25 of them on goal.  The Raiders also held the advantage in ground balls, 20-14, with Amaral leading the way with seven.  Basler and Alison Koning (Carlisle, Mass.) each recorded three ground balls for the Mustangs.

Mount Ida will be back in action on Tuesday, March 25^th at St. Joseph's (ME) with game time slated for 4:30 p.m.   Rivier will continue their season on Monday, March 24^th when they travel to Weston, Massachusetts to take on the Pride of Regis College; game time is set for 6:00.