Nashua, NH - Rivier College lost today 2-0 to conference foe Albertus Magnus of CT. It was a tale of two halves and unfortunately for the Raiders, there were no happy endings on this day. Albertus took control of the game from the time the whistle blew to start the affair off and quickly had Rivier College on their heels. Within the first ten minutes of the game, Albertus had hit the post and had a few other chances early on. However, Britt Puleo (Hudson, NH) made some nice saves and Albertus just missed on a few others, so the score remained 0-0. Finally around the 25^th minute of the game Albertus broke through on a nice through ball by Sarah Boudreau to Danielle Figueroa and Danielle was able to walk in and tuck the ball into the back of the onion sack and Albertus led 1-0.

The next goal would come 10 minutes later, when the Rivier defense opened up like when Moses parted the seas and this time Daniel Figueroa played a nice ball through the top of the 18 and Krystal Quinnanos finished the play with a nice shot past the out stretched hands of the keeper. Now 2-0 , Albertus was on the verge of turning this into a blow out. Mercifully the horn sounded to end the half and the young Raiders escaped with only a 2-0 deficit. Rivier was outshot 11-6 in the first half and out played at their own game of high pressure and quick transitions to offense.

The second half would be a different story. The Raiders came out determined not to allow Albertus to continue to have their way with them. Picking up their game and pushing their team forward, the Raiders began to claim the middle of field. Freshmen Caitlin Gallagher (Billerica, MA),  playing stopper, did a great job of pressuring the ball and taking control of the middle of field for Rivier and everyone else followed suit. Soon it was Rivier College that had Albertus on their heels and it was Rivier that was now forcing the turnovers and transitioning to quick offensive attacks. However, the keeper for Albertus made some saves ( Christina Oddo) and Rivier missed a few great opportunities and the score remained 2-0 despite the fact the Rivier out shot Albertus in the second half 7-2 and really controlled the half.

Albertus moves to 2-1 in the conference and 4-1 overall. Losing 2-0 the Raiders fall to 1-1 in the conference and 2-2 overall and play this coming Wednesday in Rhode Island  against a very good conference opponent in Johnson and Wales at 7pm.