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Late Saturday afternoon, Merrill Field was the place to be

By Tom King - Staff Writer | May 2, 2022

Jay Delanoy stood in the sunshine at Joanne Merrill Field late Saturday afternoon with the look of a sense of satisfaction on his face.

“This,” he said, “is what lacrosse is supposed to be like in college. Doesn’t matter Division I, II or III. It’s great to see it, and the kids enjoy it.”

Odds are, many of you probably missed the local sporting event of the weekend when the Rivier University men’s lacrosse team that Delanoy has coached for 11 seasons edged Emmanuel 10-9 in double sudden death overtime. The school’s beautiful Linda Robinson Pavilion had what was likely its largest crowd, as the stands were full and the rest of the fans lined up all long the fence that went from one end of the field to the other.

The drama was incredible. Emmanuel tied the game with two goals in the final 1:31, the last one coming with 6.1 seconds left. After a scoreless first overtime, two minutes into the next one Salem’s Michael Ference was somehow left open and put Riv into the conference semis.

“There’s been some nerve-wracking games this year,” he said, “but this one tops it.”

The fans were going crazy during the fourth quarter and the overtime. Fans from both schools. But this is just another example of how far sports has come in this city, in this area. Rivier athletics sometimes gets left in its own little world – not as much as, say, 15 years ago – but games like this past Saturday could help change that. “More people are finding out,” Delanoy said.

And they’re finding out that Delanoy’s program has come a long way. Coaches at Rivier have always had to fight the good fight, but the school has begun to emphasize athletics even more – see the creation of men’s and women’s ice hockey – and with the recruits coming on campus, it shows.

“The support we have now, everybody wants higher and better,” Delanoy said, referring to the administration’s mantra. “Higher and better is what we’re looking for.”

Delanoy has a talented squad that won 14 games, nine in conference, and doesn’t have a single senior. He’s recruited his behind off since he arrived at Rivier, and now he has a fantastic facility to show recruits. If you were a recruit at that game Saturday, you were wondering if you could start taking classes today. Who wouldn’t have wanted to play in front of that crowd? At that facility – which, by the way, will be gettng new field turf this month.

Of course, the best fans the Raiders can have is their student body, and Rivier athletic director Joanne Merrill said word was all over campus as the students are there for one more week. A sun-splashed Saturday at 4 p.m.? What college kid wouldn’t want to take a study break for two hours and go?

Now the rest of the Nashua lacrosse community should realize what’s up on the hill for future seasons.

“We do, but I don’t think Nashua does,” Merrill said. “Jay has built like a brotherhood, the families are all involved. Student support was here, (Friday) we had our awards ceremonies and tried to encourage everybody to come to this game. Our parents are great supporters.”

Delanoy, who grew up playing for Brian O’Reilly at Pinkerton, has built himself a solid program. You have to be happy for the guy, no matter what happens the rest of the tournament. The Raiders head to Newton, Mass. Wednesday to face Lasell in the semis, a very winnable game, and the finals are Saturday, most likely at top seed Norwich. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Raiders will have a GNAC title in the next few years.

“Anytime you lose in a playoff, it stops you in your tracks to reflect,” Delanoy said. “I’m glad I don’t have to (possibly) do that for a few more days.”

They’d play high on the hill with basically just a turf field and a smattering of fans, mainly the players’ families. Saturday they were at a packed palace.

“In 2019, it was our first home playoff game,” Delanoy said. “You’d look over, and you could see a foundation (of the Pavilion) coming out of the ground. Now it’s our third straight home playoff game.”

With a full house of fans. What did that tell Delanoy?

“We’re doing things,” he said, “that people like to watch.”

Come next spring check it out, Nashua.

tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.

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