Amaral, Women's Lax earn 14-9 decision at Norwich

(Northfield, Vermont) Senior Jessica Amaral (East Providence, R.I.) scored four goals, including three in the second half, to lead the Rivier University women's lacrosse team to a 14-9 win on the road against the Cadets of Norwich University on Sunday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action.

Rivier rebounds from a tough double overtime loss yesterday to improve to 6-4 overall with a 4-2 mark in the GNAC. The win also snaps the Cadets' four game winning streak as they fall to 4-2 overall and in the GNAC.

Norwich's Meaghan Albert (Lanesborough, Mass.) scored on the first possession of the game, and a goal by Lamarre three-and-a-half minutes later would give Norwich an early 2-0 lead. The Raiders responded by scoring five straight goals over a 12-minute span before Albert added her second tally of the day to bring the score to 4-3.

The Raiders outscored the Cadets 5-1 in the final eight minutes of the first half, including the final goal of the half in which the Raiders' Elena Reilly (Braintree, Mass.) was given a free-position shot on a wide open net following a Norwich yellow card. Norwich's lone goal in the stretch was an unassisted tally by Albert, her third of the day. Rivier led 9-4 at halftime.

The Cadets started the second half strong, as Baylie Lamarre (Tyngsboro, Mass.) scored her second goal of the day on a free position shot and senior Grace Fitzpatrick (Falmouth, Maine) added back-to-back tallies less than a minute apart to cut the Raiders' lead to 9-7. Rivier responded with a three-goal streak of their own, including two by Amaral, to take a five-goal lead at 12-7.

Lamarre scored a team-high four goals in the afternoon, including two tallies late in the second half to bring the Cadets within three at 12-9 with 9:04 still to play. Both teams would prove scoreless for the next seven minutes, and the Raiders tallied a pair of goals by Paxton LaRocque (Londonderry, N.H.) and Amaral with under two minutes to play to put the game out of reach for the Cadets.

In addition to Amaral, the Raiders saw three goals each from Rebecca and Amanda Wickens (Tyngsboro, Mass.) Reilly finished with two goals and an assist on the afternoon, while Savanna Neuwirt (Newbury, N.H.) dished out a game-high three assists.

Sophomore goaltender Rebecca Horgan (Topsfield, Mass.) took the loss in net for the Cadets and recorded three saves in 29:14 of action before giving way to senior Irene Obuko (Chicago, Ill.) who totaled five saves. Rivier netminder Danielle Moran (San Diego, Calif.) recorded 11 saves in the win.

Norwich junior Emma Smith (Patterson, N.Y.) had a strong defensive performance for the Cadets, as she totaled game-highs in ground balls and caused turnovers with four of each. LaRocque had three ground balls and three caused turnovers for the Raiders.

Rivier will travel to Lasell College on Tuesday evening in their next scheduled contest while the Cadets will host Anna Maria, also on Tuesday evening, a 7:00 p.m. home GNAC contest.