Women's Lacrosse: Raiders fall in season opener to Colby-Sawyer 19-6

(Nashua, N.H.) The Rivier Women's Lacrosse team fell in their season opener 19 – 6 to the visiting Colby Sawyer College Chargers this afternoon at Raider Field. The Raiders start off 0 – 1, while the Chargers move to 1 – 0.  Rivier battled back late in the 1^st half to close to within four, 8 – 4, with a two goal surge in the final two minutes.  The Raiders kept fighting over the first 10 minutes of the 2^nd half, staying in striking distance trailing 10 – 5.  But Colby Sawyer pulled away over the final 20 minutes and picked up the 19 – 6 win on the road.

Rivier was led on the day by Amanda Barton  (FR, Pelham, NH), 2 goals, 1 assist, 3 shots on goal, and 2 ground balls; and Sally Kennedy(FR, Billerica, MA), 2 goals, 6 shots on goal, and 1 ground ball.  In goal, Courtney Laperriere (SO, Keene, NH) went the distance and had 10 saves on the day. 

Colby Sawyer was paced by Nicole Lavigne  (JR, Berlin, VT), 5 goals, 1 assist, 6 shots on goal, and 10 ground balls; and Brittany Ireland(SO, Amherst, NH), 4 goals, 1 assist, 4 shots on goal, and 4 ground balls.  The visiting Chargers were backstopped by 5 saves from starter Meghan Castellano (SR, Wallingford, CT) and Kailyn Lapham (FR, Medway, MA) contributing 5 saves in the 2^nd half. 

Next up for the Raiders is a home game versus Regis at 6:00 pm game on Tuesday, February 28^th.   Colby Sawyer returns to action on March 1^st when they travel to Newbury College.