SAINTS ROLL PAST RAIDERS ON SENIOR NIGHT, 17-4

BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College women's lacrosse team cruised to a 17-4 victory over Rivier University Wednesday evening in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action at Roberto Clemente Field. The Saints wrap up their regular season with an overall mark of 11-3, finishing GNAC play at 6-3 while the Raiders now stand at 4-10 and 3-6 in the GNAC.

The squads traded goals to open the action as EC junior Sarah Higgins (Groveland, Mass.) scored just 34 seconds into the contest to give the hosts a 1-0 before Rivier junior middie Jocelyn Park (Londonderry, N.H.) evened the score at 1-1 with her 16^th goal of the year.

Emmanuel junior Kriten Tuleja (Mansfield, Mass.) gave EC the lead for good with her first of three goals on the evening at the 26:56 marker of the first to give EC the 2-1 advantage. The goal would spark a 4-0 spurt with two goals by freshman Stephanie Warn (Hanson, Mass.) and another by sophomore Emily Baker (Stratham, N.H.) to bump the lead to 5-1 with 21:27 left in the half.

Rivier senior Savannah Neuwirt (Newbury, N.H.) deposited her 19^th goal of the year to cut the lead to 5-2 before the Saints closed out the half on a 6-0 scoring spree to take a commanding 11-2 lead into halftime. During the stretch, the hosts received goals from Tuleja, sophomore Amanda Cook (Saco, Maine), senior Sarah Wootten (Berlin, Md.), junior Monica Burdick (Stonington, Conn.) and senior Alexia Basile (West Hartford, Conn.).

The Saints opened the second half strong, scoring three goals out of the intermission to extend the lead to 14-2. Baker, senior Madison Altwies (Southington, Conn.) and Wootten accounted for the scores.

With less than 14 minutes to play, the Raiders put together back-to-back goals to make it a 10-goal game at 14-4. Sophomore Shaw O'Connell (Bridgewater, Mass.) scored the front-end with a man-up marker before sophomore middie Amanda Wickens (Tyngsboro, Mass.) scored her team-leading 35^th goal of the year.

Emmanuel thwarted any attempt at a comeback, scoring the game's final three goals over the last 6:34 of action as Tuleja buried her team-leading 46^th goal of the year. Freshman Avery Yang (Lincoln, R.I.) got into the scoring mix as well while Baker added the final tally on the evening to account for the 17-4 final.

Emmanuel junior goalie Lauren White (Lynnfield, Mass.) made four saves to earn her 11^th win of the year while Rivier rookie Taylor Lirakis (Tewksbury, Mass.) played well in defeat, making 13 saves.

Prior to the start of the game the Emmanuel Athletic Department honored the five seniors from the class of 2015, recognizing Wootten, Basile, Altwies, Shannen Corrigan and Emma Mugerwa.

The Saints return to action on Wednesday, April 22 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Quarterfinals. They will host the contest at 7:00 PM as either the No. 3 or 4 seed against an opponent TBD following the completion of GNAC play. The Raiders return to action on Thursday, April 16 when they host Curry College at 7:00 PM.