NASHUA, NH - Rivier College (2-5, 1-4 GNAC) defeated Saint Joseph's (6-4, 4-3 GNAC), 20-19 in double-overtime, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's lacrosse contest on Tuesday night. SJC sophomore attacker Cassie Diplock (Augusta, Maine) netted eight goals and an assist in the difficult loss.
The conference rivals swapped scoring surges throughout with the Monks securing a 4-1 advantage after Erika Waterhouse (South Portland, Maine) scored off a feed from Amelia Santos (Beverly, Mass.) 5:09 into the contest. Rivier rattled off six unanswered markers over the following 12 minutes and held a 7-4 lead after Rebecca Wickens scored her third goal of the game with 13:09 left in the first half.
Over the next two minutes, Saint Joseph's fought back with three straight scores, two from Diplock and one off the stick of Santos, creating a 7-7 deadlock with 11:19 remaining in the opening frame. But the Raiders went on to net five of the game's next six goals including a pair by Jessica Amaral, with her latter tally pushing the hosts' cushion to 12-8 with 7:21 before the break.
Haley Nordmann (Springvale, Maine) and Anneka Adame (San Diego, Calif.) then scored for St. Joe's, cutting the visitors' deficit down to 12-10, but Lauren Brett found the back of the cage with 2:15 left in the half to provide Rivier with a three-score advantage heading into intermission.
The Raiders opened the second stanza on a 4-1 scoring rush, including a pair of goals from Brett, to increase their lead to 17-11 with 15:41 remaining in regulation. The Monks, having played in several tight contests of late, were unfazed by the deficit and proceeded to post five unanswered goals to come within one score of the hosts. Santos sparked the rally with a free-position shot at the 13:57 mark and Diplock, a big-game player who has quickly developed into one of the top scorers in the conference, netted four straight in a matter of two minutes to make it a 17-16 contest with 11:11 on the game clock.
Rivier's Vanessa Viola broke up the SJC scoring string with a man-up marker at the 6:11 mark to give her team a two-goal lead, but Santos hit pay dirt at the 4:09 mark and Waterhouse scored off a Diplock feed with 1:04 left, sending the conference contest into extra play.
In overtime, the visiting Monks took the lead at the 36-second mark, with Diplock converting a free-position attempt with a waist-high shot. The Raiders went on to tie the score at 19-all when Hannah Wyatt scored off an Amaral dish eight seconds into the second OT period. Wickens netted the game-winner just over a minute later. Wyatt set up the goal with a crisp pass from behind the SJC net.
The combined tally of 39 goals is the highest total scored in the five-year history of the Saint Joseph's women's lacrosse program. The previous high, 36 (22-14), came in an SJC win over Becker College last spring. Also, the Monks have never scored more than 19 goals in a loss.
For the Monks, Santos netted four goals and two assists, Adame added two goals and a game-high 10 draw controls, and Waterhouse chipped in with two goals and an assist. Starting goalie Elizabeth Giacchino (Melrose, Mass.) made two saves in the first half while sophomore Haley Nason (Saco, Maine), who took the loss, added a pair of saves in 36 minutes between the pipes.
For the Raiders, Wickens tallied seven goals and an assist and added nine ground balls and seven draw controls in the victory. Brett accumulated five goals and three assists while Wyatt and Amaral contributed three goals and an assist apiece on the evening.
With the setback, Saint Joseph's falls to 1-2 in the history of the series with Rivier College.
Saint Joseph's travels to Thomas College on Thursday for a 4:00 PM matchup versus the Terriers, while Rivier faces Lasell College on Saturday at 12:00 PM.
