Field Hockey Comes Up Short Against NEC, 4-3

NASHUA, N.H. – The Rivier field hockey team's late game comeback was put to an end in the final moments of the contest in Wednesday evening's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) showdown against New England Col. at Merrill Field.

The Raiders fell to 5-9 (3-6 GNAC) with the loss while the triumph improved the Pilgrims record to 11-3 (6-2 GNAC).

The game opened with a back-and-forth in the midfield as neither team would find their way into the attacking zone. New England Col. eventually broke the stalemate at the 9:30 mark in the first period as Martina Hill slotted her first goal of the season to give the Pilgrims a 1-0 lead.

The Raiders mounted a counterattack just three minutes later as sophomore Brianna Spinelli intercepted a pass in the offensive zone. Despite a quality scoring chance, Pilgrims' goalkeeper Mackenzie Anderson denied the shot with a sliding save at the edge of the shooting zone.

Both teams would trade chances in the second period at two shots apiece, but the score remained unchanged heading into the break.

In an action-packed third period, New England Col. doubled its lead just 39 seconds in. Over two minutes later, the Raiders drew a penalty corner that led to junior Reilly Swislosky finding twine on a second-chance opportunity to cut the Rivier deficit to one.

The Pilgrims took back their two-goal lead in the 37th minute after drawing a penalty corner.

With five minutes remaining in the fourth frame, graduate midfielder Chloe Sicard rifled a shot in the bottom righthand corner off a pass from just outside the circle from senior Jacklyn O'Connor to bring the Raiders back within one.

Just three short minutes later, graduate forward Kayla Miles would find Swislosky off a penalty corner to bury her second goal of the night and bring the game level at three apiece. The Pilgrims fought until the last second and were rewarded with a late corner with 1.9 seconds remaining. Off the corner, Cristina Manzi fired in a shot after time had expired to clinch NEC's sixth conference victory of the campaign.

Riv senior goalkeeper Kylie Coupal stopped four shots in the contest.

The Raiders return to action Saturday afternoon for a matinee matchup with the Blue Jays of Saint Joseph (Conn.) as they honor their seniors and graduate student-athletes. The match is set to start at noon at Merrill Field.