Cadets Complete Comeback to Down Men’s Lacrosse in OT

NASHUA, NH: The Rivier men's lacrosse team fell in overtime after having as many as a six-goal lead to conference opponent Norwich University this evening.

THE BASICS:

- Date: 4/13/22

- Score: Norwich 15, Rivier 14

- Records: Norwich (11-1, 6-0 GNAC), Rivier (9-3, 4-2 GNAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

-  The Raiders exploded in the first quarter, going on top 6-0. Chris Heitmiller (Nashua, NH) started it off at the 13:33 mark. He was followed by three straight goals by Michael Ference (Salem, NH) to go up 4-0. Coby Mercier (Boscawen, NH) and Connor Eck (Franklin, MA) finished off the quarter for Rivier.

- Norwich finally got on the board just 11 seconds into the second quarter with three straight goals of their own to put the game at 6-3. Jake Andrews-Pestana scored first of the Cadets on a man-up opportunity. Payden Masaracchia and Thomas Muraski would put in goals number two and three.

- Heitmiller and Ference would break up Norwich's run with Heitmiller's second goal of the game and Ference's fourth. Now down 8-3, Tyler Seidel would get in the mix to cut the Cadets deficit to just four.

- The first half would end with one more Raiders goal from Jeffery Potter (N. Bennington, VT) and two more Cadet goals by Masaracchia and Pestana. Rivier took a 9-6 lead into the break.

- The second-half scoring started right away for Norwich, wasting little time on their first goal. Just seven seconds in, Masaracchia would put in his third goal of the game. Another seven seconds go by, and Adam Sanchez scores again for Norwich. It's now just a one-goal lead for the Raiders. One more minute, and Callum Jones would put in his first of the game, then his second just 43 seconds later. Jones tied and then gave his team their first lead of the game at 13:02 in the third quarter.

- Potter would stop the four-goal run by the Cadets at 10:51 with his second score of the game to tie it back up at 10-10. Ference would then give the Raiders the lead back with his fifth goal of the contest. Nicholas Tavares (Danvers, MA) would join in on the scoring for Rivier to add some cushion, giving them a 12-10 lead. Pestana would cut it back to one with just 55 seconds left in the third quarter, but Trevor Reilly (Newington, CT) would bump it back to two at 13-11 to end the quarter.

- Masaracchia would start the fourth off with the Cadets 12^th goal of the game to bring them back within one. The back and forth of one and two-goal leads would continue as Potter put one more in to go back up 14-12.

- Masaracchia would go on a two-goal run himself to tie it up 14-14 after a string of Raider turnovers. The Cadets were able to capitalize on the miss cues and send it into overtime.

- There was only 1:26 left in the first OT when Parker Campbell would finish it for Norwich on a wide-open route to the net from the x position. He was able to run past the pipe and roll it past Sawyer Gagnon's (Gorham, ME) foot and into the net.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

-  Tommy Hopkins would get the win in net, making him a perfect 5-0 on the season after compiling 10 saves. Gagnon is tagged with just his third loss of the season after saving 13 shots on net.  

-  Masaracchia would top all scorers with 6 goals.

-  Ference would pace the Raiders offense with five goals and two assists.

UP NEXT:

- Rivier men's lacrosse will be back in action this Saturday when they travel to the University of Saint Joseph's for a 1 pm game.

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