Nicholas Tavares, shown earlier in the season, had a record day with nine goals in Rivier's win over St. Joseph's of Connecticut on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Rivier University)

NASHUA — Nicholas Tavares set a program record today putting away nine goals and leading the Raiders to a 20-12 victory over St.Joseph’s of Connectcut Saturday at Joanne Merrill Field.

The Blue Jays won the first quarter 5-4, going shot for shot with Rivier. USJ’s Evan Baden scored two goals one on a man up opportunity, Nick Pestrichello also put away two goals, and Freeman Johnson with the final goal of the quarter. Raiders’ Michael Ference of Salem knocked in one goal and Tavares took care of the other three in the quarter, one on a man up advantage.

In the second quarter, Rivier (7-2, 3-1 GNAC outscored the Blue Jays 9-2. Rivier goals were earned by Tavares with another three, Ference and Alan Cozzolino each with two, Connor Eck on the man up with one, and Nashua’s Chris Heitmiller contributed with a goal. USJ’s goals were buried by Christian Decker and Pestrichello.

The Blue Jays (5-6, 1-3) chipped away in the third quarter, scoring three. Matt Crisco, Pestrichello, and Decker on a man up opportunity were credited with those goals. Tavares rocketed in two, putting the Raiders ahead by five.

The Raiders closed out the game with five more goals in the fourth quarter. Jeffery Potter put away two goals, the first on a man up advantage, Sean Callinan, Eck, and Tavares each shoved in one apiece. USJ was only able to sneak two goals by Rivier in the fourth, the first from Pestrichello on a man up opportunity and the final from Evan Zimnoch at 8:11 on the clock.

Raiders’ Sawyer Gagnon saved 12 shots for the Raiders, who host St. Joseph’s of Maine on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Merrill Field.

WOMEN’S LACROSSE

JOHNSON & WALES 17, RIVIER 4

The Raiders fell behind 6-2 after the first quarter in Providence, R.I., and were outscored 5-0 in the second to basically put the game out of reach as they fell to 3-4, 2-4 GNAC.

Sarah Lachance led Riv with two goals and two assists while Caitlin Newell added two goals. Emma Desmarais added an assist while Raider goalie Lindsey Kruger had seven saves.

Rivier next hosts Simmons in another conference matchup Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Merrill Field.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

RIVIER 3, EMMANUEL 0

LASELL 3, RIVIER 0

The first match for the Raiders (16-10, 10-3 GNAC) was a tight one with the Saints. Rivier was able to minimize the errors in each set and outhit Emmanuel 39 to 30 to get the three-set sweep (25-20, 25-21, 25-22).

Lowell’s Sokunbith Ly led the offense for the Raiders, finishing with a match-high 13 kills on just one error, giving him a .444 kill percentage. Ethan Soltis dished out 35 assists while also digging out six attacks. Thomas Miller topped the team in digs with nine.

In the second match for Riv, the Lasers (16-12, 10-3 GNAC) just snuck away with the first two sets, continuing their momentum to take the third set to complete the 24-26, 23-25, 16-25 sweep. Both teams were very close in all statistical categories, with Lasell coming out on top with kills making the difference with 38 to the Raiders 29.

Theo Zaharewicz topped all in this one with 17 kills on just four errors to get a kill percentage of .448.

For Rivier, Jack Normandin finished with a team-high of ten kills. Soltis added 25 assists to his stat line, along with four digs. Ly found himself getting the most digs for the team with six.

Rivier will be back in action Tuesday against Colby-Sawyer in New London at 7 p.m.

(Telegraph staff writer Tom King contributed to this report.)