Regis Men’s Lacrosse Loses at Rivier

NASHUA, N.H. – Regis College could not overcome an early scoring flurry by Rivier University, as the Raiders defeated the Pride, 17-8, Tuesday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's lacrosse match at Joanne Merrill Field.

Rivier (5-5, 3-2 GNAC) jumped on the board with two goals within the first minute-and-a-half of the match, but the Pride responded with a goal by Matt Cabassa (Weymouth, Mass.) two minutes later. However, the Raiders would take control of the contest with five unanswered goals, two of them from Michael Zapatka.

Late in the first quarter, Jack Jaynes (Reading, Mass.) snapped the Raider scoring run, but the home team put together another quick three-goal streak spanning the end of the first period and the beginning of the second quarter. Evan Azary (Shelton, Conn.) would score a goal early in the second period, but Rivier answered right back with four straight goals to extend its lead into double figures.

The Pride held the Raiders scoreless in the final 4:53 of the first half while gaining goals by Anthony Marsella (Johnston, R.I.) and Nick Klein (Buxton, Maine) to close their deficit back into single digits at halftime, 14-5. Rivier scored the first three goals of the second half, but then Regis tallied the final three goals of the match while holding the Raiders without a goal in the final 22:46 of the contest.

Jaynes and Klein led the Pride with two goals each, Marsella finished with three assists, and Dylan Slichko (Wynantskill, N.Y.) paced the team with five groundballs. Starting goalie Devin Hammon (Chicopee, Mass.) made six saves in the first half before Ryan Guerrette (Litchfield, N.H.) took over after halftime and collected five saves.

Zapatka led the Raiders with three goals and four assists, while Coby Mercier also notched a hat trick with three goals. Parker Williams earned eight groundballs as Rivier won 20-of-27 faceoffs, and Samuel Tibbetts played the first three quarters in net for the Raiders and made eight saves.

Regis College (5-3, 1-3 GNAC) heads to Franklin, Mass., to face Dean College Saturday, April 6, beginning at 3 p.m. The Pride return home and welcome defending GNAC champion Emmanuel College to campus next Wednesday, April 10, starting at 6 p.m.