NASHUA, N.H. – The Rivier men's lacrosse team used thirteen different goal scorers en route to a 19-1 victory over Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opponent Anna Maria on Saturday afternoon at Joanne Merrill Field on Senior Day.
With the win, the Raiders extended their program-best winning streak to 10 games and pushed their all-time win streak against Anna Maria to 12 straight, dating back to the 2013 campaign. Rivier improved to 12-1 (8-0), while the AMCATS concluded their regular season at 2-14 (1-9 GNAC).
Graduate student Colby Mercier opened the scoring at the 12:50 mark as classmate Connor Eck followed suit to give the Raiders an early 2-0 lead. Senior Michael Zapatka and graduate student Michael Ference then added to the tally, combining for the next three goals to force an AMCATS timeout with Rivier leading 5-0. Mercier netted his second of the game before Zapatka added his third and fourth of the quarter, extending the Raiders' lead to 8-0 with 2:35 remaining in the first. Junior Braydon Bourque registered his first collegiate goal, followed by junior Joseph O'Reilly, who scored his first goal of the season. First-year James DelPrete capped off the quarter with a goal to give Rivier an 11-0 advantage heading into the second.
The Raiders added two more goals off the sticks of senior Sawyer Hall and first-year Mason Schultz to take a 13-0 lead into the halftime break.
After the break, first-year Tyler Zehr scored his second goal of the season, marking the only goal of the third quarter and increasing the Rivier lead to 14-0. The Raiders kept rolling as first-year Ray Lynch added to the tally, and at the 5:24 mark, Austin Salvetti netted his first collegiate goal to push the lead to 16-0. DelPrete and O'Reilly followed with additional goals, and senior Jaiden Lee finished the scoring with his first collegiate goal, securing a comfortable 19-1 victory.
Zapatka led the Raiders with six points and two ground balls, while Mercier followed with four points and a ground ball. O'Reilly and Ference each added three points, while DelPrete, Hall, and Zehr chipped in with two apiece.
Six Raiders combined for a team-high two caused turnovers. Junior Owen McDuffie was dominant at the faceoff X, winning 10-of-13 draws (76.9%) and collecting five ground balls. In net, senior Samuel Tibbets recorded a season-high seven saves.
Rivier outshot Anna Maria 57-20, held a 49-24 edge in ground balls, and won 17-of-24 faceoffs (70.8%). The Raiders also forced 32 turnovers while committing just 23.
The Raiders conclude the regular season with a road GNAC clash against Norwich on Wednesday, April 23. The opening faceoff from Sabine Field is set for 4:00 p.m.
