PORTLAND, Maine (April 8, 2015) – The Raiders (4-8, 3-4 GNAC) fell to Saint Joseph's College, ME (10-1, 7-0 GNAC) 21-7 in a game where the Monks extended their winning streak to 10 games, at Deering Memorial Stadium on Wednesday evening. Rivier was led by Savannah Neuwirt (SR, Newbury, NH) and Amanda Wickens (So, Tyngsboro, MA) with two goals apiece. The Monks junior attack Mary Leasure (South Portland, Maine/McAuley) totaled eight points and broke the Monks' single-season assists record in the triumph.

Saint Joseph's, ranked 12th nationally in scoring offense (16.30 GPG) entering the contest, wasted little time getting on the board, as Leasure scored off a pass from junior Kat Gadbois (Scarborough, Maine) just 1:20 after the opening whistle. Rivier tied the game just 39 seconds later when sophomore Shae O'Connell (SO, Bridgewater, MA) netted her 14th goal of the year.

The Monks then assumed control of the game by scoring seven unanswered goals in a matter of six minutes, with junior Lizzie Calnan (Westport, Mass.) potting three markers, including the go-ahead tally at the 25:29 mark and the final goal of the outbreak a little more than six minutes later.

The Raiders attempted to fight back into contention by scoring a pair of goals just 31 seconds apart, as senior captain Savannah Neuwirt and junior Jocelyn Park (JR, Londonderry, N.H.) steered shots past SJC sophomore goalie Meghan Fullarton (Windham, Maine) to make it an 8-3 game with 17:05 before the break.

St. Joe's effectively put the game away with four consecutive goals during a 10-minute span, as sophomoreJackie Wilson (Tiverton, R.I.) scored three times and Leasure was credited with three assists during a stretch that saw the Royal Blue gain a 12-3 cushion.

Trailing 14-5 at intermission, Rivier looked to regroup coming out of the break. The Monks continued to apply pressure. Again it was Leasure kicking off the second-stanza scoring with a pair of unassisted goals, scored less than two minutes apart, to make it a 16-5 game. Amanda Wickens and Paxton LaRocque (JR, Londonderry, NH) scored for the Raiders in the 2nd half en route to the 21-7 final.

For Rivier, Neuwirt scored twice with an assist and a pair of draw controls, sophomore Amanda Wickens added two goals with five ground balls and eight draw controls, and O'Connell produced a goal and an assist in the losing effort. Senior keeper Mackenzie Flagg (Shirley, Mass.) was in goal for the Raiders making three saves on the night.

Saint Joseph's was led by Leasure with four goals, four ground balls, and three caused turnovers in the triumph and surpassed Lauren Hagerman '10 on the Monks' single-season assists leaderboard when she dealt the helper on a Wilson goal at the 8:42 mark of the first half. Leasure now has 32 assists through just 11 games while Hagerman recorded 29 assists as a senior in 2010. Fullarton made three saves to pick up her fifth win of the season and ace defender Emma Lafrance (Westport, Mass.) recorded six ground balls and three caused turnovers on the evening.

Both teams return to the turf on Saturday, when Rivier plays a non-conference game at Southern Vermont at 3:30 PM and Saint Joseph's plays at Johnson & Wales University at 2:00 PM in a battle of undefeated GNAC teams.

*Portions of this recap taken courtesy of Saint Joseph's Sports information