Raider Review: The 2014 Women's Lacrosse Team

Story written and posted by Anthony Perry, Rivier University Sports Information Director

NASHUA, N.H. – The Raider Review is a series of stories highlighting achievements and moments in Rivier University Athletics history. Each week we will bounce back in time and review some of the best moments our student-athletes and teams have captured throughout the 25-year history in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference.

This week we are highlighting the 2014 Women’s Lacrosse team that went on a deep playoff run and made an appearance in the ECAC Tournament.
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2014 Women’s Lacrosse | Final Record: 9-9 | GNAC Semifinal & ECAC Appearance

After three consecutive seasons of reaching the Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournament, the 2014 senior class had one collective goal in mind, advance! Returning a core group of twelve student-athletes from the 2013 squad, the Raiders infused a young mix of talented freshman to pair up with the five seniors.

Three-year captain senior Vanessa Viola (Nashua, N.H.), a pair of two-sport stars in senior captain Rebecca Wickens (Tyngsboro, Mass.) and classmate Jessica Amaral (East Providence, R.I.) along with fellow seniors Sarah Sigman (Dracut, Mass.) and Hannah Wyatt (Merrimack, N.H.), was the solid foundation in which this season was built around. Wickens is a returning three-time GNAC All-Conference midfielder while Amaral garnered All-Conference honors in 2012. Sophomore goaltender Danielle Moran (San Diego, Calif.) was also a key returning piece for the Raiders as the sophomore class included 2013 All-Conference selection Elena Reilly (Braintree, Mass.) and Paxton Larocque (Londonderry, N.H.), who netted 11 goals in her first season. The team also saw junior Savannah Neuwirt (Newbury, N.H.) return to the midfield after dishing out 17 assists (second most on team) in her sophomore campaing.

The rookie talent that fifth year Head Coach Kathryn Gaudreau brought in played immediate dividends as Amanda Wickens (Tyngsboro, Mass.), the younger sister of Rebecca, and Shae O’Connell (Bridgwater, Mass.) solidified their areas of specialty as the team embarked on the season.

Regular Season

The Raiders jumped out to hot-start in the month of September as they captured five wins in seven games, including going a perfect 3-0 against GNAC foes. They scored what turned out to be a season-high of 24 goals in a win over Albertus Magnus College and scored in excess of 17 goals over their other four wins in the month. The team also collected conference weekly honors on March 23rd as their perfect 3-0 week led to Reilly being named GNAC Player of the Week, Moran chosen as Goalie of the Week and Amanda Wickens tabbed as the GNAC Rookie of the Week. A clean sweep for the program.

October was not as kind to the Raiders as they struggled to obtain wins over the first 14 days. They did manage to defeat Norwich University, who captured three GNAC championships in the previous four years, on April 6 (14-9 win) however they fell to Johnson & Wales in a heartbreaker (4/5, 15-14 loss) and an overtime defeat to Saint Joseph’s College (Maine), 14-11 on senior day.

However, once again this senior group bounded together and with their backs against the wall catapulted the team down the stretch. Sitting at 4-4 in the conference with two games remaining, the Raiders knew that they had to win out to get into the tournament.

First up was a road contest at Simmons, another team battling for a playoff spot. Trailing by two goals with under nine minutes to play, Amaral cut the deficit in half as she converted as pass from Rebecca Wickens to make it 12-11. The younger Wickens then tied the game at 5:40, which seemed to have swung the momentum in the Raiders favor. Yet Simmons was able to regain the lead at 4:42 before the comeback kids rallied behind goals from LaRocque at 2:37 and Amanda Wickens with 53 seconds remaining, giving Rivier a thrilling 14-13 victory and one win away from securing a spot in the GNAC Tournament.

Rivier took care of business in the season-finale as the trounced Anna Maria 16-2 and in the process earned the overall #5 seed in the 2014 GNAC Tournament.

Tournament Time

The quarterfinal matchup for the #5 Raiders sent them on the road at #4 Lasell College, who were the defending GNAC Champions. In their earlier match up on April 8th in Newton, the Lasers defeated Rivier, 18-9, and entered the dance with an overall record of 9-7, 7-3 in league play.

It was a tightly contested first half as neither team was able to go on a run to separate themselves. Rebecca Wickens gave the Raiders and early lead as she netted the first goal of the game in the opening minute. Lasell then equalized it minutes later before the Wickens sisters struck twice to give Rivier a 3-1 lead. The Lasers would close the gap to one with less than a minute in the half as the teams entered the locker room with a 4-3 contest, in favor of the Raiders.

The final 30 minutes were much different than the first as the Raiders executed on their halftime adjustments and exploded for seven second half goals. With the game knotted at 5-5, the Raiders went on an impressive run as they outscored the Lasers, 6-2 over the remaining 20 minutes to capture the program’s first conference tournament win and advance to the GNAC Semifinals.

Waiting for the Raiders were the tournament’s top seed in undefeated Emmanuel College. The Saints were a perfect 10-0 in conference play before the tournament, including an 11-3 win in Nashua on April 1, and extended their winning streak to nine games with a 20-8 quarterfinal win over the University of Saint Joseph.

Rivier came out focused as they battled step-for-step with the Saints, entering the break trailing 5-4. The eventual GNAC Champions then stymied the Raider offense in the second half, limiting Rivier to just one second stanza goal to reach the GNAC Championship and effectively end the Raiders season, with a 9-5 final.

For their efforts, the Rivier University Women’s Lacrosse team received an invitation to compete for the ECAC Championship, a program first. They were matched up with a very talented Curry College team, which defeated the Raiders in the ECAC Tournament first round to end a very successful 2014 season.

Season Awards

Rebecca Wickens was named to the GNAC All-Conference second team following her final season in the Raider blue and white. This was her fourth consecutive selection to the All-Conference team as she appeared on the All-Conference second team in 2013 & 2012 after a first-team selection in 2011. Wickens played and started all 15 of the team’s regular-season contests, scoring 40 goals on 62 shots on net (a .816 shots on goal percentage) to go along with her seven assists for 47 total points. Wickens collected 58 groundballs and caused 13 turnovers on the season.

Reilly was also named to her second consecutive All-Conference team as she was tabbed a second team attackman. She played in 14 contests for the Raiders, totaling 49 points and scoring 30 goals. The second-year student-athlete also dished out 19 assists and registered a .885 shots on goal percentage. Reilly also scooped up 27 groundballs and caused three turnovers.

Sigman was the Rivier selection to the GNAC All-Sportsmanship team and both Rebecca Wickens and Moran were selected to the GNAC All-Tournament team.