Women's Lacrosse tops Southern Vermont, 18-7

(Bennington, Vt.) The Rivier University Women's Lacrosse team spoiled the season opener for Southern Vermont as the Raiders brought home the 18-7 non-conference victory at SVC's Everett Field. The Raiders (3-2 overall) led the whole way, using a late push in the second half to extend their upper hand for the decisive victory.

Rivier was led by two strong performances from a pair of its captains, junior Amanda Wickens (Tyngsboro, Mass.) notching a game-high seven goals to go with her three assists while senior Paxton Larocque (Londonderry, N.H.) had another five scores in the win.

Three Mountaineers tallied a pair of goals on the day with two of them adding an assist. Junior captains Lauren Nesshoever (Chittenden, Vt.) and Emily Lesure (Cheshire, Mass.) each netted two scores and a notched a helper, and they grabbed two draw controls apiece to go with their four and one ground balls, respectively. Fellow junior captain Mel Orrell (Gloucester, Mass.) chipped in with another two goals, and she also scooped up a game-high eight groundballs and a team-best four draw controls. SVC freshman Hailee Walker (Cohoes, N.Y.) also registered her first collegiate score on the day.

Southern Vermont sophomore goaltender Kelsey Carerra (Queensbury, N.Y.) made 10 saves in the loss (0-1) as her freshman counterpart Courtney Laperriere (Keene, N.H.) stopped eight Mountaineer shots.

RU took a slight 16-10 advantage in draw controls through the afternoon while out-shooting SVC by a 32-21 margin. Each team netted one free-position goal, and the Raiders grabbed a slim 26-25 edge in groundballs.

Rivier scored early and often, Wickens wasting no time in getting her team on the board as she took a pass at the top of the arc and went at the goal, cutting through the defense before slotting her shot to the top-right corner of the frame with just 38 seconds taken off the game clock. She added another 24 seconds later with the help of a Mountaineer foul, getting a free-position shot to go in the same spot of the net for the quick 2-0 lead.

Wickens would sandwich a Larocque goal with two more before a second Larocque tally made it a 6-0 Raider upper hand at the 19:26 mark. SVC then got its offense going when Nesshoever scooped up the draw control at midfield and carried the ball 50 yards down the right edge, finishing the play as she fired a shot in the lower left part of the frame to make it 6-1. Orrell soon-after potted a free-position goal to trim the deficit a little further, burying the attempt from the top of the arc into the lower part of the goal for her first of the year.

Rivier would get the two goals back through the 5:00 mark, the second coming off the stick of Wickens for her fifth of the day. Orrell then recorded her second on a free-position attempt in the final minute to make it an 8-3 game going into the break; Lesure started with the ball on the left side of the field and immediately sent it across to Orrell in front of the goal. The junior caught it, spun her stick and let it fly to the right side to get the Mountaineers back within five heading into halftime.

Neither side could get one home in the first 4:30 after play resumed, but SVC would start the second-half scoring to make it a four-point game. With the man-up advantage, Nesshoever sent a pass over the top of the Rivier defense from the outside to Lesure in front of the net; she caught it and spun before shoveling the ball low into the goal for her first tally of the year, making it an 8-4 contest.

The two teams would trade scores over the next few minutes, Walker answering an RU goal with her first collegiate score off the ensuing draw. She caught the flip in the SVC end of the field and carried it all the way down the right edge before getting a shot off, despite taking a Raider bump five yards away from goal; her attempt went over the left shoulder of the Raider goalie, setting the score at 9-5.

Rivier would take to a 6-1 run, however, to open up its lead and grab a comfortable cushion; Larocque and Wickens each had a goal in that spurt while RU sophomore Taylor Lirakis (Tewksbury, Mass.) had three in a nine-minute span. Lesure added her second during the Raider surge when she collected the ball in open space near the left corner, brought it across the middle of the field and flicked it inside the right post at the 15:20 mark.

Nesshoever registered her second of the day with just over seven minutes to go, taking a pass near the Raiders' restraining line and taking it all the way to the front of the goal before sending it into the back of the net to make it a 15-7 Rivier advantage. The Raiders would notch the final three scores of the day, Wickens and Larocque each adding one more to their line for the 18-7 final.

Rivier takes to the road once again on Thursday, visiting Fitchburg State University for a 5 p.m. first draw. SVC (0-1) is back at it on Wednesday with a 4 p.m. home match against Norwich University.