Rivier Tops Men's LAX

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College men's lacrosse team came up on the short end of a 27-6 final against Rivier University on Saturday afternoon.

A total of nine Raiders found the back of the net in the contest, led by six goals and two assists from Michael Zapatka. Connor Eck supplied five tallies and three helpers while Oscar Wolfe potted four goals, and Michael Ferrence recorded a hat trick to go along with a game-high seven assists. 

Jonathan Urrutia paced Mitchell with a pair of goals and an assist while James Giovanniello finished with three assists.

Rivier got off to a quick start behind goals from Coby Mercier and Sawyer Hall in the first 3:44 of the contest. Joseph Hayes put the Mariners on the scoreboard with his second goal in as many games, cutting the deficit to 2-1.

The Raiders responded with nine consecutive goals to pull away. Eck scored three times during the spurt while Ferrence contributed two goals and three assists, putting Rivier up 11-1 with 7:35 left in the half.

Mitchell scored back-to-back goals late in the half to stop the run. Urrutia netted an extra-man goal with 6:55 to go before feeding Weston Schumacher for a score just over a minute later.

Zapatka's first goal came with two seconds left in the half and gave Rivier a 12-3 lead at the break. He tacked on his final five goals in the second half, including four in the third period alone.

Rivier (4-1 overall) outscored Mitchell 10-1 in the third quarter and 5-2 in the fourth. The Raiders held a 57-30 edge in total shots and went 4-for-7 on man-up opportunities. 

Sawyer Gagnon made six saves in goal for Rivier before coming out of the game in the third quarter. Steven Turchetta stopped a career-high 14 shots in 45 minutes of action for the Mariners.

Mitchell (1-7 overall) will next host Mount Saint Vincent College on Wednesday, March 23 at 4 p.m.