NASHUA, N.H. – Southern Vermont College resumed its regular season schedule Thursday night in a non-conference women's lacrosse contest at Rivier University with the visiting Mountaineers falling 13-8 during a close matchup in cold playing conditions.
Down 5-3 in the first half, SVC scored five straight to take the upper hand and bring a 7-6 lead into the break. Rivier held the Mountaineers to just one goal in the final 30 minutes, however, and notched six unanswered goals to stay in front for the win.
Southern Vermont (1-1) now readies itself to start the New England Collegiate Conference schedule on Saturday when the Mountaineers visit Newbury College for a 12 p.m. league start.
SVC began the 2017 season with a win for the first time in program history, and it was then 25 days until the Mountaineers revisited live action after a match before Spring Break was postponed.
Senior captain Mel Orrell (Gloucester, Mass.) tied team-highs of three goals and six ground balls, and she also notched an SVC-best four draw controls while adding an assist. Fellow senior captain Emily Lesure (Cheshire, Mass.) chalked up another three goals and three ground balls as classmate and captain Lauren Nesshoever (Chittenden, Vt.) tied Orrell with six ground balls while notching two draw controls and a caused turnover.
Mountaineer junior keeper Kristiana Goldup (Schuylerville, N.Y.) made 17 saves in the loss (1-1)—coming just three shy of tying the team's all-time record for one game.
RU got on the board first and took a 3-0 lead, but Nesshover tallied an unassisted goal before sophomore Sofia Sorriento (Troy, N.Y.) grabbed an Orrell pass and put it into the back of the cage. The Raiders pushed it back to three—only to see Lesure score two straight with her second being assisted by sophomore Aubrey Vierstra (Saugerties, N.Y.) for a 5-4 Rivier edge.
Orrell potted her first of the game to tie it at the 13:22 mark, and that score stood until she put the Mountaineers ahead off a Rivier turnover with five minutes left to go. The SVC senior capped a natural hat-trick for a two-goal edge, but RU scored off the ensuing draw control to make it a 7-6 Southern Vermont tally going into halftime.
RU got one past the keeper just 1:50 into the second half, and the Raiders added another three straight in a stretch of 1:44 for a 10-7 lead. The hosts scored two more while seeing the clock run down under the 8:00 mark as they held a five-point separation. Lesure scooped up a ground ball and put it home for her third of the day, but that would be it for SVC as the Mountaineers were held scoreless the rest of the way en route to their first loss of the year.
– #LetsGoSVC –