Fourth Quarter Struggles See Bulldogs Down Women's Lacrosse

FRANKLIN, Mass. - April 23, 2022 – The Rivier women's lacrosse team fell to Dean College this afternoon in conference action. 

Dean improves to 5-9 overall and 5-7 in the GNAC. The Bulldogs will conclude conference action on Wednesday with a 3:30 p.m. home game against Norwich. Rivier falls to 3-11 overall and 2-10 in conference action. The Raiders host Anna Maria on Tuesday for a regular season finale.

First-year, Haley Gaunt (Johnston, R.I.) scored a season-high six goals to lead the Bulldogs. Junior Maire Brown (Huntington, N.Y.) recorded six points on four goals and two assists to go with game-high totals of eight draw controls and seven ground balls. First-year Nina Medeiros (Fairhaven, Mass.) and junior Jazzy Sztyler-Magee (Burlington, Conn.) each added a hat trick. Medeiros also collected eight draw controls. 

Rivier received six goals and four assists from first-year Sarah Lachance (Chelmsford, MA). First-year Rachel Hinkley (Swedesboro, NJ) and first-year Chiara Skeels (Swanton, VT) added two goals apiece.

Junior Jada Fields (Acushnet, Mass.) made eight saves for Dean in the win. Rivier goalie Lindsey Kruger (New Bedford, MA) had 15 stops for the Raiders.

The Raiders came out with a purpose and outscored Dean 5-1 in the first quarter. Hinkley and Lachance had two goals apiece in the first 15 minutes.

Each team put two goals on the board in the second frame to keep a four-goal advantage for Rivier going into halftime, 7-3.

The visitors increased their lead with a 4-3 scoring advantage in the third. Rivier received goals from four different players, while Medeiros put in a pair for Dean to make the score 11-6 after 45 minutes.

Dean then found an offensive rhythm in the fourth and erupted for eight goals. After Medeiros and Sztyler-Magee brought the Bulldogs to within 11-8, Rivier got one back off the stick of Lachance. Trailing 12-8, Dean scored six goals in a five-minute stretch to take a 14-12 lead with less than four minutes on the clock. The Raiders added a 13^th goal with 3:29 left to play, but the Dean defense held tough to secure the 14-13 come-from-behind victory.