JSC Lax Drops Rivier 7-4

JSC Lax Drops Rivier 7-4
Posted: Mar 25, 2012

NASHUA, N.H. - Johnson State lacrosse earned their first victory of the young season on Sunday by pushing past previously undefeated Rivier College 7-4 in a non-conference road contest.  The Badgers are now 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) while Rivier slips to 4-1 overall.

Johnson saw senior Alex Petti (East Greenwich, R.I./East Greenwich) score three goals and sophomore Matt Dekens (Johnson, Vt./Lamoille) net a pair of scores to lead the JSC offense.  Rookie classmates Nash Garceau (North Haven, Conn./North Haven) and Tyler Ask (Bristol, Vt./Mount Abraham) each recorded a single goal with Garceau adding an assist.  Seniors Justin Connolly (Jeffersonville, Vt./Lamoille) and Nate Durick (South Burlington, Vt./South Burlington) each had an assist.

JSC keeper Zach Jerome (Waterford, Conn./Waterford) made six stops to earn the victory in net for the Badgers who outshot the Raiders 47-22 for the match.  His counterpart Chris Benoit made 24 saves to help keep Rivier in striking distance throughout most of the day but took the losing the decision.

Dekens put the Badgers up 1-0 just over four minutes into the match but Rivier's Mike Arricale knotted the score at 1-1 about 10 minutes later with the assist from Shawn Donovan.  JSC would push the lead to 3-1 before the end of first getting unassisted goals from Petti and Garceau.

The only score in the second period would come from Dekens with an assist from Connolly mid-way through the period with 7:45 to go.

The teams would each score a goal in the third period with Donovan netting Rivier's score and Ask picking his with about a minute left play making the score 5-2 entering the final stanza.

Petti would score with 8:51 remaining and then again with 4:49 to go giving Johnson their largest lead of the day at 7-2 on their way to the win.

The Badgers will return to Johnson for their first home contest of the year in the next outing facing NAC opponent New England College on Saturday, March 31 at 1:00 pm.  Rivier moves on to play at Becker College on Wednesday at 4:00 pm.