Ference Makes History, Men’s Lacrosse Falls Short at Plymouth St.

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – In the first meeting between the two teams, Rivier men's lacrosse fell short to Plymouth St. on Wednesday night in a non-conference clash at Panther Field, 9-8.

Senior standout and reigning Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Player of the Year Michael Ference broke the program record for points in a career with five in tonight's contest. Ference has tallied 218 points on 121 goals and 97 assists over 46 contests. The record had previously stood firm at 214 from Kyle Graham setting the mark in 2016.

Despite the historic night, the Raiders fell to 1-2 on the young season while the Panthers remained unbeaten and improved to 4-0.

Plymouth St. scored back-to-back man-up goals with Matt Miner assisting on the first and tallying the second unassisted.

Rivier's Connor Eck would answer with 10:22 to play to make it a one-goal game.

25 seconds later, the Panthers regained their two-goal advantage on a Brady Hunt strike.

Ference would then score his first of the night to make it 3-2, but the hosts would once again double their lead to take a 4-2 lead into the second quarter.

Matt Miner once again assisted on and scored the two Plymouth St. goals in the second quarter as the home team headed to halftime with a 6-2 lead in hand.

Rivier used a three-goal third quarter to cut the deficit down to two goals with 15 minutes to play. Adam Hailey, Ference, and Coby Mercier each scored in the frame.

Ference found the back of the net one minute into the fourth to once again only trail by one goal. The Panthers would score twice in the next 5:13 to pull ahead by three. Ference once again scored to make it a 9-7 ballgame with 5:19 to go, but the comeback bid would fall short as Rivier scored once more with five seconds left to lose by one.

The Panthers outshot the Raiders, 40-36, with each goalkeeper making 10 saves in the affair. Rivier was 20-for-22 on clears in the contest while Plymouth St. failed on five of their 24 attempts. The Panthers also edged the Raiders in the ground ball category, 34-29, while both teams won 10 faceoffs apiece.

Rivier will hit the road once again on Saturday, March 9 for another non-conference tune-up against U. of New England. The opening faceoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. from Blue Bolt Field.