The Rivier men's soccer team, shown here earlier this season with head coach Hayden Barbosa, hung tough but fell 1-0 at Dean College on Wednesday. (Photo courtesy of Rivier University)

FRANKLIN, Mass. — The Rivier University men’s soccer team fell this afternoon to Great Northeast Athletic Conference newcomer Dean College, 1-0.

After a scoreless first half, the Bulldogs broke the 0-0 tie in the 57th minute when Kazu Noguchi beat the Raider keeper Sebastian Lembo (Nutley, NJ).

Lembo took the loss but had a stellar game in net. He saw 13 shots on goal, saving 12 of them.

Despite being outshot 25-11, the Raiders, now 3-9 overall (1-7 GNAC) had four corner kicks to Dean’s two, but couldn’t convert them.

Dean improved to 3-9 overall, 2-6 in GNAC play.

The Raiders will be back in action on Saturday, travelling to take on the University of Saint Joseph’s at 3 p.m.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

RIVIER 3,

EMMANUEL 0

The Raiders stayed unbeaten (8-0) in the GNAC with a 25-11, 26-24, 25-19 sweep.

The Raiders opened the match with a dominant first set as they put together 12 kills on just three errors for a respectable .346 kill percentage. Set two and three were closer bouts, but Rivier prevailed behind another outstanding performance by junior outside hitter Lily Blodgett (Dunstable, Mass). Blodgett finished the match with another game high of 17 kills along with three blocks. Avery Pollard (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) had another well-rounded match with 34 assists, six service aces, three kills, and five digs.

Defensively for Rivier libero Sofia Pawlusik (Burnt Hills, NY) tied with defensive specialist Olivia Garand of Litchfield with 11 digs each.

Now 11-5 overall, the Raiders will be back in action this weekend when they head to Colby-Sawyer for a GNAC tri-match with the Chargers and Anna Maria College.

The Raiders will play Colby-Sawyer at 11 a.m. and Anna Maria at 1 p.m.

FIELD HOCKEY

RIVIER 3,

ANNA MARIA 0

The Raiders picked up a huge win to move to 3-3 in the GNAC.

The Raiders got on the board quickly in the first quarter at 5:37 when Chloe Sicard of Salem netted her second goal of the season. Sicard wasn’t done; however, she would tally her second goal of the game on a rebound just four minutes later.

Rivier would add one more to end the scoring for the evening in the third quarter. Newbury’s Abby Nadeau would be the beneficiary of the score marking her first of the season.

In net, Rivier’s Katie Olsen of Saugus, Mass. continues to be a force with another shutout where she recorded three saves in 60 minutes.

Now 4-6 overall, Rivier visits St. Joseph’s on Saturday at noon.