Men's Lacrosse Falls, 14-13, in Back-and-Forth GNAC Matchup

BOSTON – In a battle of Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) North Division foes, the Emmanuel College (5-10, 5-4 GNAC) men's lacrosse team dropped a tight affair, 14-13, to Rivier University (8-6, 6-2) on Wednesday night at Clemente Field. The Raiders found the back of the net with just over two minutes remaining to take a goal advantage and earn the victory.

With the score tied at 2-2 and two minutes left on the clock in the first quarter, Thomas Quigley (Marblehead, Mass.) scored to give the Saints a 3-2 edge. Emmanuel went on the post the next two goals through Cooper Mehlhorn (South Portland, Maine) and held a 5-2 lead early in the second period. The Saints extended their lead to 8-3 midway through the second quarter, but the Raiders refused to lie down.

Rivier began their run through an unassisted goal from Jeffrey Potter (North Bennington, Vt.) with 3:48 left to go before the break. The Raiders posted another score prior to the half to trail by three. Early in the second half, Chris Heitmiller (Nashua, N.H.) tallied back-to-back man-up goals for the visitors, who went on to take a 9-8 lead minutes later with 11:01 remaining in the third quarter.

The Saints were able to stop the Rivier scoring run, knotting the game at 11 as the two sides headed to the final 15 minutes. After over eight minutes of scoreless lacrosse in the fourth quarter, Cole Cloney (Medfield, Mass.) put the Saints back in front. Rivier posted the next two goals of the contest, but it was Cloney, again, who tied the game at 13 with just over three minutes to go.

With 2:10 on the lock, Rivier attacker Connor Eck (Franklin, Mass.) fired the visitors back in front off a feed from Michael Zapatka (Newington, Conn.). Emmanuel was unable to find an equalizer in the remaining two minutes of play, falling 14-13 in the tightly contested GNAC matchup.

Coby Mercier (Boscawen, N.H.) and Chris Heitmiller led the Raiders' attack, totaling three goals apiece. Jeffrey Potter added two goals and three assists while Sawyer Gagnon (Gorham, Maine) posted 15 saves to earn the victory. Cole Cloney led the Saints with a career-high six goals while Cooper Mehlhorn and Rob Favuzza (Saugus, Mass.) each added a hat trick in the loss.

Up next, the Raiders will return to Nashua for a GNAC North Division matchup with Norwich on Saturday (4/20) at 1:00 P.M. The Saints will have a week-long break from competition before traveling to St. Joseph's (Maine) on Wednesday (4/24) for their final game of the regular season, beginning at 4:00 P.M.