Rivier Sneaks Past Men's Lacrosse in 2OT Thriller in GNAC Tourney, 10-9

THE BASICS 

Score: 
No. 6 Emmanuel, 9 – No. 3 Rivier University, 10 (2 OT)

Records: 
Emmanuel College Saints (6-10, 5-5 GNAC)
Rivier University Raiders (14-3, 8-2 GNAC)

Location: Nashua, N.H. – Joanne Merrill Field

Date: Saturday, April 30, 2022

THE LEAD – Sophomore Michael Ference (Salem, N.H.) netted the double-overtime game-winner to lift No. 3 Rivier University over No. 6 Emmanuel College, 10-9, in the 2022 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men's Lacrosse quarterfinals played at Joanne Merrill Field in Nashua, N.H.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Raiders won the opening faceoff in the second overtime with a huge groundball by Matty Babb (Windham, Maine) in a scrum of players. Rivier worked the ball around to find Ference in front of the net and the Raider's leading scoring did the rest to secure Rivier's third overtime win in 10 days to advance to the GNAC Semifinals.
• The first overtime period featured solid offensive sets for both teams with the best scoring chance coming late in the session by the Raiders but back-to-back shots were denied by EC junior goalie Randy Castle (Boxford, Mass.) to keep the game locked at 9-9.
• Trailing 7-6 to start the fourth, the Raiders tied the game at 7-7 just 1:55 into the fourth period on an unassisted tally by Jeffrey Potter (North Bennington, Vt.). Ference broke the tie and gave the hosts the lead with 8:56 to play, netting his second goal of the day to give RIV an 8-7 lead.
• Coby Mercier (Boscawen, N.H.) netted an important insurance goal with 7:33 remaining in regulation to make it 9-7 but the Saints made it a game as Robert Favuzza (Saugus, Mass.) cut the deficit to one with 1:35 left in the quarter. Emmanuel had the final possession of regulation on a man-up rotation with 11 seconds to play and Favuzza sent the game into overtime with his third score of the day to make it 9-9 with just 5.9 seconds left on the clock.
• The hosts opened the game strong netting the first three goals of the afternoon as Connor Eck (Franklin, Mass.), Mercier and Ference put the Raiders ahead 3-0 with 7:22 to play in the first. Emmanuel sophomore Thomas Quigley (Marblehead, Mass.) got the Saints on the board at the 6:04 mark but Potter delivered an emotional blow to EC to put Rivier ahead 4-1 with a man-up score with just 16 tics remaining in the opening frame.
• Emmanuel bounced back with a strong second quarter showing, outscoring the Raiders 3-0 in the action to make it a 4-4 game heading into halftime. Favuzza, junior Drew Chant (Warwick, R.I.) and Quigley did the dirty work for Emmanuel to give the visitors the momentum heading into the second half.
• Quigley gave the Saints a brief lead at 5-4 to open the third quarter action but Potter and Nicholas Tavares (Danvers, Mass.) answered with consecutive markers to pull the hosts back on top at 6-5 with 7:11 to play in the third.
• Chant and Quigley gave the Saints a lift to close the period with goals of their own to account for the 7-6 EC lead through three quarters of action.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Shots were nearly identical on the afternoon with EC owning the slim 40-39 edge with Rivier outshooting the Saints by a 5-1 margin in the two overtime sessions.
• Rivier goaltender Sawyer Gagnon (Gorham, Maine) made 17 saves in the win for his 13^th victory in net while Ra. Castle stopped 13 saves, closing the campaign with a 3-6 mark.
• Quigley led all players with five points in the defeat on four goals and one assist to close the season with 28 helpers, the new Emmanuel single-season assists record. Chant matched Quigley with a game-high five points on two goals and three assists.
• Ference and Potter paced Rivier with three goals each while Chris Heitmiller (Nashua, N.H.) recorded a game-high four assists.
• The evenly matched game showed throughout the box score as the teams each scooped up 32 groundballs and Rivier held a small advantage in faceoffs in the contest by a 13-11 margin.
• This marks the second consecutive season the Raiders have defeated the Saints in the GNAC Quarterfinal and the second time this season that Rivier bested Emmanuel by a single goal as they also won the regular-season meeting by a 10-9 margin in regulation back on March 23.

UP NEXT

• The Raiders move on to the GNAC semifinals to be played on Wednesday, May 4 at No. 2 Lasell University in Newton, Mass. The Lasers took care of No. 7 University of Saint Joseph (CT) by a 13-6 final to advance to the semifinal round.
• EC's 2022 season comes to a close with a 6-10 final record.