Men's Lacrosse: Raiders top the Saints 11-8 in GNAC Quarterfinals.

Nashua, N.H. - The Rivier University Men's Lacrosse team faced Emmanuel College yesterday afternoon for the third time this season.  All of which resulted in the favor of the Raiders.  All three wins were sweet, however this one was a bit sweeter as it was a GNAC quarter final win, at home. 

While the end result was ideal for the Raiders, it certainly didn't come without a fight.  The first leg ended 4-1 in favor of the visiting Saints. With the lonegoal credited to freshman Connor Eck (Franklin, Mass.) after freshman Coby Mercier (Boscawen, N.H.) forced an Emmanuel turnover. 

In the second quarter the Raiders retaliated with four goals of their own. Two of which were tallied by Mercier and Jacob Enright (Dracut, Mass.) unassisted the other two were credited to Babb assisted by McSparren (Warwick, R.I.). Freshman goalie Sawyer Gagnon (Gorham, ME) recorded three saves fending off the Saints just enough to close the gap to a one goal deficit by the end of the quarter, 6-5.

The Raiders responded in the third quarter with some stiff defense as Gagnon recorded four saves and his cast scooped up 6-8 ground balls in the quarter. Michael Ference (Salem, N.H.) was able to strike three minutes into the quarter unassisted.  However, the Saints neutralized the Raiders attack tallying two more goals. 

The fourth quarter was paced by the Raiders as they scored five unanswered goals. Two were tallied by McSparren, one of which was off a dish from Mercier in a man-up situation. Freshman middie Alan Cozzilino (Hamden, CT) also scored in a man-up opportunity the assist was credited to Ference.  Mercier also walked away with an un assisted goal.  

The Raiders out-performed the visitors in a few categories.  Gagnon stood on his head again collecting a total of 14 saves to fend off the feisty Saints. The team went 14-23 in faceoffs, 13-13 in clear attempts, out-shot the competition 38-30 and went 2-5 in their man-up opportunities. 

The Raiders will now move onto the next challenge.  A Great Northeast Athletic Conference Semi-final matchup against the Cadets of Norwich University.  The event will be hosted by Cadets and faceoff is slated for 7PM on Wednesday night. Streaming will be available at https://www.norwichathletics.com/livestream