STRONG FIRST HALF BOOSTS SAINTS OVER RAIDERS

NASHUA, N.H. - The Emmanuel College Men's Soccer team netted two first-half goals enroute to a 2-1 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) win over Rivier University on Saturday evening.  The win under the lights at Raider Field moved the visiting Saints to 5-6 overall and 2-1 in GNAC action.  The Raiders fall to 1-5-1 on the season and 0-2-1 in league competition.

Emmanuel's Jordan Maurer (Florence, Mass.) got the scoring started early in the first half as he was able to beat the Rivier defenders to a free ball in front of the net. The goal was Mauer's first of his collegiate career.

A couple of minutes later, it was Stefano Sainato (Albany, N.Y.) who was able to slide kick a ball past Rivier freshman goaltender Gary Archambault (Auburn, N.H.) and the Saints led 2-0 at 23:50.

The Raiders had a chance to get on the board with about 5:30 left in the opening half, as freshman Ryan Law (Ipswich, Mass.) sent a beautiful ball to classmate Greg Freiman (Hampton, Conn.), but Freiman's shot sailed wide of the far post.

With about six minutes remaining in the game, a hard foul gave Rivier a free kick opportunity, which the Raiders were able to convert. Junior Danny Connelly (Bedford, N.H.) sent the free kick inside the 18 where after banging around of a couple of players landed on the foot of freshman Kyle Gameski (Bedford, N.H.) for the lone Riv goal of the night.

The Raiders were outshot on the night by a 14-9 margin with a slight 6-5 shots-on-goal advantage.  Archambault finished the evening with four saves and Emmanuel's Garrett Charette stopped four of the five shots he faced.

Rivier will return to action when they host crosstown foe Daniel Webster College on Wednesday night. Game time is set for 7pm at Raider Field. Emmanuel will face former GNAC rival Emerson College in non-conference action scheduled this Wednesday night.

- Release courtesy of Rivier College Sports Information