Lacrosse suffers two more losses, losers of five straight

By Dave Green and Sarah F. Griffin

Rider lacrosse’s season continues to spiral as it is now losers of five straight. After a tight 17-15 loss to the Mount Saint Mary’s Mountaineers at home and a loss on the road against the Niagara Purple Eagles, the Broncs conference record stands at 0-4.

Late push, too late

Rider lacrosse fought hard but ultimately fell short in a fast-paced 17–15 loss to visiting Mount Saint Mary’s on April 2.

Mount opened the scoring less than two minutes in, netting back-to-back goals before Rider responded with two of their own. Free-position goals from senior attackers Toni Gismondi and Elena Bontatibus leveled the score at 2–2. 

A sideline turnover led to a fast break goal by senior attacker Selena Carrington, giving Rider its first lead. Junior attacker Katie Walsh, assisted by Gismondi, pushed the lead to 4–2 before sophomore defender Mackenzie Kiernan added another following a fierce defensive stand by freshman defender Hannah Kozik. Rider led 5–2 before Saint Mary’s cut the deficit to two. 

Graduate student attacker Anna Devlin scored late in the quarter to make it 6–3. Mount stormed back early in the second quarter, scoring two unanswered goals. A green card to Mount gave Rider an edge, and freshman attacker Elizabeth Shean capitalized off a Bontatibus assist to make it 7–5. 

Shean, with her performance, was crowned Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference rookie of the week, the third time she has taken home the honor this season.

However, Mount scored four straight to take a 9–7 lead into halftime. 

Carrington and Shean kept Rider within reach in the third quarter, but Mount extended its lead to 13–9. Bontatibus answered with two quick goals to end the quarter, bringing Rider within one at 13–12. 

Mount opened the fourth with goals to develop a three-goal cushion. Carrington completed the hat trick, and Devlin followed with another goal, bringing the score to 15–14. Saint Mary’s responded with two more goals before Carrington scored her fourth. 

A final push by Rider came up short, as Mount ran out the clock in the final minute. Bontatibus led Rider with four goals and Carrington with four goals and an assist. 

Despite the result, Head Coach Evan Mager was happy with the team’s performance. 

“The things we worked on during the week, both offensively and defensively, and changing some personnel I think we were successful in a lot of the areas that we focused on and so now we’ve just got to put it together for an entire game,” Mager said.

Unlucky five

Rider lacrosse lost its fifth straight game in overtime on April 5 against the Niagara Purple Eagles.

The Broncs were unable to score more than one goal during the first quarter of the game.

The game started with two goals for the Purple Eagles before Walsh put the Broncs on the board.

The Purple Eagles responded by scoring three back-to-back goals, making the score 1-5 in favor of the Purple Eagles. Rider lacrosse did not take being down by three in the second quarter laying down.

Freshman midfielder Madison Rothwein scored two goals before Shean scored with an assist from Bontatibus.

The second quarter ended with a point for the Purple Eagles, bringing the score to 4-6 with the Purple Eagles in the lead.

Walsh scored a goal to start out the third quarter. 

After the Purple Eagles scored, Walsh achieved another goal, bringing the score to 6-7 at the end of the third.

The fourth quarter started with a goal shot by Devlin with an assist from Gismondi, making the score 7-7.

After another goal by the Purple Eagles, Shean scored a goal for the Broncs, making the game go into overtime.

Rider lost after the Purple Eagles scored the only goal in overtime, ending the game 7-8.

Rothwien said, “the team worked really hard today.”

“A bad bounce led them to getting the last chance in OT and that they made the best of it,” said Rothwien.

Mager said, “Obviously, losing in overtime is not anything anybody is going to be happy about, [but] I felt going into the game we were differently prepared [and] excited.”

“Overall, I think our defense played probably one of their best games all season,” Mager continued. 

“I think our offense was a little bit off in shooting and not necessarily capitalizing on the opportunities that we did have, but at the end of the day [the Purple Eagles] are the reigning champions from last year,” said Mager.

Rider’s next game will be against Sacred Heart, on the road on April 9 at 3 p.m.