By Dylan Botelho, Staff Writer
Lead by senior Jordan Torres team-high four goals, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth picked up their first win of the season on Sunday afternoon ant Cressy Field 7-6 over Rivier University. Corsairs’ head coach Ryan Murphy also secured his first career win in the team’s close victory.
It was a good scoring day for the Corsairs top players. On top of his four goals, Torres added an assist to his final line. Sophomore Donovan Prozinski, who lead the Corsairs offense in their first game, plotted to assists and a goal, while seniors Ed Isogna and Dean Miller scored a goal each. Four players scored for the Rivier University Raiders, with senior Liam Ryan leading the team with a hat-trick.
The Corsairs found the back of the net early when Torres’ shot beat junior goal tender Matt Cloutman, for an early 1-0 lead only four minutes into the game. The score would remain the same heading into the second quarter, as the UMass Dartmouth Corsairs’ shut down the Raiders to begin the game, allowing them to only record one shot on goal for the entire first period.
It began to rain down on the Raiders in the second quarter. The Corsairs had a total of 15 shots in the second frame, with three of them finding the back of the net. Torres had his fingerprints on all three of the Corsairs goals in the second and it began with an assist to Miller. Keeping their foot on the gas, Torres notched his second goal of the game, receiving an assist from Prozinski. With only a minute and thirty seconds remaining in the half, freshman Ben Bunnell got the ball to Torres who bounced a shot off the turf and over the opposing goaltender’s shoulder to secure himself a hat-trick. The Corsairs headed into the second half with a solid 4-0 lead on the Raiders.
Isogna opened up the scoring in the second half, giving the Corsairs an even larger 5-0 lead. Rivier however, would not go quietly. The Raiders finally got on the board with a pair of two unanswered goals halfway through the third. Luckily for the Corsairs though, Prozinski scored with just over a minute remaining in the period to lead the Corsairs into the final frame up by four goals.
It was in the final period that the Raiders came oh so close to their improbable comeback. Rivier scored three straight goals to cut the Corsairs lead to only one. There was still time left for the Corsairs to pull away and provide themselves with a bit more cushion though. A minute after the Raiders closed the gap, Torres scored his fourth and final goal thanks to a rebound scoop and pass from Prozinski to extend the home team’s lead to two again.
Rivier’s Ryan was nearly the hero for the opposing squad. His third and final goal came with 1:38 seconds left. One goal away from tying the score, the Raiders attacked the Corsairs hard but their defense was able to lock down the Raiders as they did in the first period, securing the team’s first win of the year, 7-6.
The Corsairs will travel to Roger Williams University on Wednesday March 7th, in another non-conference matchup against the Hawks at 4:00 p.m. Rivier University will be on the road again as well against Dean College on Tuesday, March 6.