UNE Pulls Away From Men’s Lacrosse, 11-8

BIDDEFORD, Maine – U. of New England used a seven-goal second half to pull away and down the Rivier men's lacrosse team in a non-conference clash on Saturday afternoon at Blue Bolt Field.

The Raiders fell to 1-3 on the season while the Nor'easters improved to 2-5.

UNE started things off with three straight goals over the opening 11:19 to build an early multi-goal lead. Rivier's Michael Ference tallied on an unassisted bid with 28 seconds left in the half to break the drought and cut the Raiders' deficit to two.

Rivier would outscore the hosts, 3-1, in the second quarter capped off by back-to-back goals by Michael Zapatka in the final 1:12 to tie the game at 4-4 at the half.

Coming out of the break, UNE regained its lead with 13:51 left in the quarter. Jeffrey Potter and Coby Mercier went back-to-back for Riv to give the visitors their first lead of the contest with 7:39 left in the frame. UNE responded with a pair of goals with under five minutes left to take a 7-6 advantage into the fourth quarter.

Following back-to-back tallies for the Nor'easters, Michael Ference would find Nicholas Tavares near the crease who fired a behind-the-back shot into the top left corner for a highlight-reel goal which made it 9-7 with 7:18 left to play. UNE would pull away over the next few minutes, capitalizing off a turnover and a successful clear to score two consecutive goals to ice the game.

Zapatka and Ference led the scoring efforts for the Raiders with two goals apiece. Parker Williams recorded a team-best three caused turnovers while Noah Zeman led the way with six ground balls thanks in part to a 9-for-13 day on faceoffs. Sawyer Gagnon made 12 saves on 23 shots in net.

Rivier outshot the Nor'easters 38-36 in the game. UNE coughed the ball up 26 times to Riv's 23 turnovers while the Nor'easters edged the Raiders in faceoffs, ground balls, and clear percentage.

The Raiders will turn their attention to Lasell as the Lasers come to Merrill Field on Wednesday, March 13 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opener with the opening faceoff set for 6:00 p.m.