Men's Lacrosse: Raiders fall to the Cadets in a 12-6 loss.

Nashua, N.H. - The Rivier University Men's Lacrosse fall the Cadets on Thursday night in a wet and cold GNAC matchup.  

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Cadet's were the first to strike three minutes into the game.  However, Senior Dylan McSparren (Warwick, R.I.) notched the first goal of the game for the Raiders off a dish from teammate Michael Ference (Salem, N.H.). McSparren went on to score another goal by the end of the first leg, unassisted. 

Both programs turned up the defense in the second quarter.  Freshman goalie Sawyer Gagnon denieted six shots while his teammates scooped up four ground balls and forced 4 turnovers.  The quarter ended with one goal apiece as McSparren scored the loan goal to narrow the Cadets lead, 5-3.

The second halfs scoring tendacies were the same.  The Raiders tallied two more goals in the third and one in the fifth. The third leg's goals came from freshman Connor Eck (Franklin, Mass.) and Ference once again. Assists were credited to freshman Alan Cozzolino (Hamden, Conn.) and Max Kelley (Dracut, Mass.)

The fourths lone goal was credited to freshman Coby Mercier (Boscawen, N.H.) off a dish from Kelley. 

TEAM STATS:

The Raiders totaled 24 shots, went 15-18 in clears and forced 22 turnovers. 

THE KEEPERS:

Raiders senior starter Ben Fitzpatrick (Stoneham, Mass.) pulled down 9 saves in the performance. Sawyer Gagnon also saw some time, he snagged 3 big saves in the 4th quarter to preseve their one point lead and eventual victory.  

LEADERS – Rivier University:

• Eck still leads the Raiders with 18 goals.
• Freshman Michael Ference (Salem, N.H.) leads in the assists category with 8 and sits just behind Eck with 14 goals.  
• Sawyer Gagnon denied 20 shots on the performance.

NEXT!

Up next for the Raiders! The Raiders will take a trip up to New England College (3-3) on Wednesday, faceoff is at 7PM.