RIVIER HOLDS OFF PRIDE, 12-7

WESTON, Mass. – Rivier University scored six goals in the first quarter to propel the Raiders to a 12-7 victory over Regis College on Monday night in non-conference men's lacrosse action in Weston, Mass. The Pride fall to 1-2 on the young season, while Rivier improves to 3-1.

The Raiders' Kyle Graham (Londonderry, N.H.) scored the first three goals of the game in the opening quarter to stake Rivier to an early 3-0 lead. Sean Given (Londonderry, N.H.) made it a 4-0 advantage for the visitors as he one-timed a pass from Kevin Dembkoski (Salem, N.H.) into the back of the net. Regis finally got on the board with 2:58 remaining when Nicky Rodrigo (Miami, Fla.) found Peter Fucci (Amherst, N.H.) out in front for a goal to cut the deficit to 4-1.

Dembkoski answered for Rivier as he corralled a save from the Pride's Tyler Estes (Geneva, Ill.) and shot on the open net to make it a 5-1 lead. Rodrigo added an unassisted goal only 30 seconds later for Regis, but Sean Given potted his second goal of the quarter to give Rivier a 6-2 lead at the end of the first.

As they had done to open the game, Rivier scored the first three goals of the second quarter on another Dembkoski tally and goals from Danny Hooper (Wakefield, R.I.) and Kyle Graham's fourth score of the day. Trailing 9-2, the Pride's Peter Leighton (Wilmington, Mass.) raced down the right side of the field, lost his defender, and beat the keeper 1-on-1 to make it a 9-3 game headed into the half.

Out of the break, Graham recorded his fifth goal of the game with a blast from 20 yards out to put Rivier on top 10-3. Hooper scored top shelf to make it 11-3, but Nicky Rodrigo buried a crank shot from the top of the box to cut it to 11-4. Kyle Graham would score the final goal of the third quarter as the Raiders entered the final period leading 12-4.

Regis struck first in the final stanza as Matt Vogan (Billerica, Mass.) entered the scoring column on a fastbreak goal to make it 12-5. Almost 30 seconds later, Rodrigo would fight his way through a check and dropped the ball into the net to knife the deficit in half at 12-6. Off a Rivier turnover, Andrew O'Reilly (Hollis, N.H.) would find an open Alex Ferran (Miami, Fla.) out in front and the senior buried the goal to get the Pride within five with 3:17 remaining. It was too little too late however as Rivier controlled possession and ran out the clock for the 12-7 victory.

The Pride won the turnover battle with only 20 missteps compared to 22 for Rivier. Both teams scooped up 30 groundballs, while the Pride won 12-of-19 face-offs in the game. The Raiders were better on clears, however, going 16-for-20 compared to just 8-for-14 for the Pride.

Nicky Rodrigo led the Pride with a hat trick and an assist for a four point day, while Peter Leighton added a goal and an assist. Andrew O'Reilly led the Pride defense with eight groundballs and Brian Cidado (Easton, Mass.) caused a pair of turnovers. Tyler Estes suffered the setback, allowing nine goals on 16 shots faced and made seven saves. Breandan Crane (Billerica, Mass.) finished the game for Regis with four saves. Brandon Mehler (Bay Shore, N.Y.) won 8-of-11 face-offs to lead the Pride.

Kyle Graham scored six goals and added an assist to lead the Raiders. Kevin Dembkoski, Sean Given, and Dabby Hooper each scored twice, while Cody Lynch (Salem, N.H.) and Tom Johnson (Londonderry, N.H.) had two assists apiece. Lynch added a team-best six groundballs to go with four groundballs apiece from Andy Wells (Wilmington, Mass.) and Clark Plummer (Londonderry, N.H.). Plummer picked up his third win of the season in net, allowing only seven goals and making 18 saves on the day.

Regis continues a five game home stand on Wednesday night when the Pride hosts Anna Maria College in a 6:00 p.m. non-league matchup. Rivier travels to St. Joseph's of Maine on Saturday afternoon for a 1:30 p.m. GNAC contest.