Women's Lacrosse: Kennedy's 9 goals leads Rivier past Southern Vt. 13-8

(Nashua, N.H.) The Rivier University Women's Lacrosse team used a strong second half as they won their first game of the season this evening as they defeated visiting Southern Vermont College, 13-8 in a frigid, windy night under the lights at Raider Field. The Raiders, who played their first contest since March 2, overcame a 7-6 halftime deficit by outscoring Southern Vermont 7-1 in over the final 30 minutes to secure the victory. Rivier is now 1-3 on the season while the Mountaineers fall to 1-1.

Freshman Sally Kennedy (Billerica, Mass.) was the #1 star of the game as she registered nine goals on fourteen shots to lead the Rivier offense. Fellow freshman Amanda Barton (Pelham, N.H.) netted three goals of her own and freshman Alyssa Ciszek (Tyngsboro, Mass.) recorded her first collegiate goal to account for all of the Raider scoring.

The Mountaineers saw both seniors Emily Lesure (Cheshire, Mass.) and Mel Orrell (Gloucester, Mass.) find the back of the net three times each while classmate Lauren Nesshoever (Chittenden, Vt.) and sophomore Sofia Sorriento (Troy, N.Y.) knocked home single goals on the evening. Sorriento was the shot leader with 12.

Rivier quickly jumped out to a 5-2 lead halfway through the first half before Southern Vermont went on a 5-1 run over the final 15 to hold a slim 8-7 lead at halftime. The Raiders and Kennedy responded as the rookie attackman netted three consecutive goals to give Rivier the lead for good.

Sophomore Courtney Laperriere (Keene, N.H.) battled through the night as she made ten saves to earn the win. Her counterpart, junior Kristiana Goldup (Schuylerville, N.Y. ) made seventeen saves in the loss for Southern Vermont.

Next up for the Raiders will be their first Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest of the season when they travel to Providence, R.I. on Saturday afternoon for a 1pm date with Johnson & Wales University. The Mountaineers will be in conference action on Saturday as they travel to Newbury College for a 12pm New England Collegiate Conference contest.