Ference Scores Game Winner in Double OT

NASHUA, NH: The Rivier men's lacrosse team is heading to the GNAC Semifinals after a hard-fought victory over the Saints of Emmanuel College late this afternoon. It took two overtime periods to finish the contest.

THE BASICS:

- Date: 4/30/22

- Score: Rivier 10, Emmanuel 9

- Records: Rivier (14-3), Emmanuel (6-10)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

-  The Raiders again started off strong in the first quarter with three unanswered goals. Connor Eck (Franklin, MA) got the ball rolling with 13:56 left in the first. Just over a minute later on a man-up opportunity Coby Mercier (Boscawen, NH) would put Riv up 2-0. The third Raider goal came from the team's leading scorer Michael Ference (Salem, NH). Down 3-0 the Saints would stop the Raider early streak with a Thomas Quigley goal, but another penalty gave Rivier a man-up chance that was capitalized on by Jeffery Potter (N. Bennington, VT).

- Emmanuel entered the second quarter down 4-1, before going on a three-goal run before the break to tie it up at 4-4. Robert Favuzza would start it for the Saints followed by Drew Chant and another Quigley goal.

- The Saints would tack on one more right out of the break to take their first lead of 5-4. Quigley was responsible for the go-ahead goal, good for his third of the game. The Raiders would tie and then regain the lead on a pair of goals. The first coming from Potter and the follow-up was by Nicholas Tavares (Danvers, MA). However, the lead was short-lived with Emmanuel ending the third with two more goals to give them back the lead. Chant and Quigley combined for the 6^th and 7^th team goals to give the Saints a 7-6 lead going into the last quarter.

- Rivier's offense came back to life in the fourth as they ripped off three more goals to give them a two-goal advantage of 9-7. Potter, Ference, and Mercier all found the back of the net. But again Emmanuel wasn't going to back down and scored two more times in the last 1:35 to send it into overtime. Favuzza would net both fourth-quarter goals with the second coming off of a poorly timed Raider penalty.

- The first OT would come and go with no one getting the game-winner. The second OT was just about to hit one minute in at 3:01 when Chris Heitmiller (Nashua, NH) found a wide-open Ference for the easy low to high score to advance to the Semifinals.  

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

-  Sawyer Gagnon (Gorham, ME) saved 17 shots this afternoon while only allowing nine goals.

-  Ference and Potter both tallied three goals in the game, with Ference also earning an assist.

-  Quigley had an impressive four-goal outing with one assist.

UP NEXT:

- Rivier men's lacrosse will play Lasell University in the Semifinals on Wednesday, time is still TBD.

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