Men's Lacrosse: Six Raiders earn GNAC All-Conference Selections.
The Rivier Unversity Athletics Department is proud to announce six Rivier University Men's Lacrosse team members have been named to the 2021 GNAC All-Conference selections. After a season of cancellations, restrictions and careful oversight, Coach DeLanoy and his coaching staff never took their eye off the ball. It was through their focus and resilient leadership the Raiders approached this unique spring as if it was any other. They took it incredibly serious and so did the GNAC in recognizing six Rivier University Men's Lacrosse members for their performances.
Second Team All-Conference Selections:
Senior Captain Dylan McSparren (Warwick, R.I.) finished his last season as a Raider with 18 goals and 12 assists. One of his most memorable moments this season was during the Raiders third match of the season against Emmanuel College in the GNAC Semi-Finals. McSparren tallied his first goal of the match to put the Raiders up 9-8 with 6 minutes left in the game in a man-up situation. Then minutes later netted another to put Emmanuel College away, 11-8. McSparren will graduate with a Bachelors Degree in Business Management while boasting a career highlight of 82 goals and 48 assists!
Third Team All-Conference Selections:
Senior Captain Jacob Enwright (Dracut, Mass.) finished his senior season with three goals as a middie. One of Enwrights most notable moments was also during the win against Emmanuel College. Enwright notched an unassisted goal as part of a recovery effort in the second period. Enwright also collected five groundballs and caused two turnovers that night. Enwright will be graduating with a Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice and will be remembered for scoring 20 goals and dishing out 7 assists.
Freshman Coby Mercier (Boscawen, N.H.) also had a stellar freshman year as he collected 12 goals and 12 assists while scooping up 15 ground balls on the season as a middie. A memory that might stand out for Mercier could be against Emmanuel College back in April. The rookie scored two goals as part of a seven goal onslaught in the third quarter that the Saints never came back from.
Freshman Adam Hailey (Salem, N.H.) and Robert DelPrete (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.) were instrumental for the Raiders in securing the programs success this season. Hailey showed great resistance on defense forcing his opponents to a total of 17 caused turnovers and snatching up 14 ground balls. DelPrete showed the same prowess causing 14 turnovers and scooping up 12 ground balls.
All-Sportsmanship Team:
Alan Cozzolino (Hamden, Conn.) had an incredibly productive season. The midfielder scored six goals and dished out 7 assists and caused 9 turnovers. These are all fantastic stats. However, what Coach DeLanoy wanted to acknowledge, was his ability to serve the team first, "Alan didn't come in this year with the expectation of taking all face-offs. He did everything we asked of him and he did it well." Coach DeLanoy said after being asked, why Alan Cozzolino? The rookie went into his season as an eager freshmen and came out one of the Raiders most proficient and consistent, day-to-day contributors. Alan went 103-207 in his face-offs and led the team with 54 ground balls.
In closing, the Athletics Department would like to congratulate the Rivier University Men's Lacrosse program for an outstanding season. We'd also like to thank all student-athletes for their courage, sacrifice and commitment this year. Whether it was testing, quarantining or cancelations. You were all exemplary sportsmen and sportswomen through it all. We value all of you here at Rivier University and look forward to your return in the fall!
