Men’s Lacrosse's Comeback Bid Against Lasell Falls Short in OT, 10-9

NASHUA, N.H. — Despite a comeback bid, the Rivier men's lacrosse team lost in overtime to Lasell in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action on Wednesday evening at Merrill Field by a final score of 10-9.

The Raiders now sit at 1-4 (0-1 GNAC) while the Lasers jumped to 2-4 (1-0 GNAC).

In the first quarter, Lasell outscored Riv 3-2 to take the lead after 15 minutes. A man-up goal came off the stick of Chris Heitmiller at 8:32 before Sean Callinan's strike.

The Lasers tallied three goals to Rivier's one in the second to make the score 6-3 at halftime. Heitmiller recorded his second goal of the game just under five minutes into the quarter.

Rivier would go on a 5-0 run spanning nearly 24 minutes of the third and fourth quarters. Heitmiller scored to complete the hattrick 58 seconds into the second half before Michael Zapatka shortly followed tossing in his own goal at 8:59. With 27 seconds left in the third, Michael Ference found Coby Mercier who fired in a Raiders goal, tying the score at 6-6 with under 30 seconds left in the frame.

At 13:43, Mercier found the back of the net, tallying his second goal of the game with an assist credited to Zapatka to grab Rivier's first lead. Callinan scored his second of the contest at 12:43 of the fourth to give the home side a two-goal advantage. The Lasers would score two more to make the score even at 8-8. Ference then put the Raiders back in front at 5:44 in the fourth with an unassisted tally, reclaiming the lead at 9-8. With 1:25 left in the contest, Lasell shoved in the final goal of regulation to send the game into overtime.

With a four-minute sudden-death period underway, Lasell won the draw and Landon Reyes put the game-winner in with 2:40 left to will the Lasers to a GNAC-opening victory.

The Lasers outshot the Raiders, 45-31, with Sawyer Gagnon making 19 saves for Rivier in tonight's matchup.

The Raiders will travel to New Haven, Conn. on Saturday, March 16 to face Albertus Magnus in another GNAC contest with a face-off at 1:00 p.m. from Celentano Field.