Rivier goalie Rachel Hinkley gets a big hug after she shut out Albertus Magnus Saturday night at Conway Arena. (Photo courtesy of Isabella Marie Photography/Rivier Athletics)

NASHUA — Rachel Hinkley made 24 saves to guide the Raiders to a 4-0 shutout win over Albertus Magnus on Saturday night as the Rivier women’s ice hockey team celebrated Youth Hockey Night at Conway Arena. The shutout was the first of Hinkley’s collegiate career.

The Raiders now sit at 5-8-3 overall, while the Falcons fell to 4-13-2 on the season.

No scoring in the first led to four unanswered goals for the Raiders split throughout the second and third periods.

Rebecca McKelvey curled out the corner and fired a wrist shot past Falcons’ goaltender Christmas Johnson at 16:49 in the second, with assists generated by Brianna Parent and Paige Anger, giving the Raiders a 1-0 advantage.

Oliva Schultz launched the puck towards the net, giving Tia Picardi the opportunity to score on the powerplay for Riv at 18:12.

With feeds from Briana Paxson and Molly Dukesherer, Jessica Driscoll recorded a powerplay goal at 7:44 of the third, increasing the Rivier’s lead to 3-0.

With 19 seconds left on the clock, Dukesherer fired in the final goal of the night, sealing the 4-0 win.

Rivier was outshot 43-24 in the affair. The Raiders killed off all six of their penalties while scoring twice on six powerplay opportunities.

The Raiders are back home at Conway Arena on Friday, Jan. 26 to face MCLA in Eastern Collegiate Hockey Alliance (ECHA) action with a puck drop of 8:00 p.m.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

RIVIER SPLITS SEASON OPENER

The Rivier men’s volleyball team began its 2024 campaign in a tri-match hosted by Vassar on Saturday afternoon at Kenyon Hall. The Raiders downed the Bears in four sets before dropping a 3-0 decision to the No. 9 ranked Brewers.

Rivier won by set scores of 24-26, 25-12, 25-23, 25-17 to Potsdam before losing to Vassar 14-25, 18-25, 17-25.

Next up, the Raiders will travel to Beverly, Mass. on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. non-conference matchup with Endicott at MacDonald Gymnasium.

Rivier 3, Potsdam 1

Rivier dropped a highly contested opening set which needed extra points to find a victor. Ethan Soltis notched six kills at a .444 clip to help keep things close for the Raiders.

A 7-0 run started things off for Rivier in the second set to help earn an early cushion. Rivier’s lead would again reach seven as Neil Rea and Matthew McCloskey would combine on a block to give the Raiders a 14-7 lead. Following a Bears timeout at 18-10, Rivier would finish the set on a 7-2 run to tie the match at one-all. Isaac Borges recorded four kills on five errorless swings in the frame.

The third set would be much closer as the score was tied on 14 occasions with five lead changes. In the end, it would be back-to-back kills from Borges and Rea, both assisted by one another, that would seal the set at 25-23 to give Riv its first lead of the match. Chris Lezon hammered home two aces in the set.

Rivier would get on a big run to start the fourth set, scoring eight straight, forcing Potsdam into a timeout. The Raiders would lead the entire way, cruising to a 25-17 win to secure the win.

Rea led the way with 26 assists, eight digs, seven kills, and three aces in the match.

No. 9 Vassar 3, Rivier 0

Rivier lost the first set as Vassar hit .550 as a team to earn a 1-0 advantage in the match. Despite dropping the game, Sokunbuth Ly and Ryan Peace each notched two kills apiece.

The Brewers erased a 9-6 deficit in the second set with a 6-0 run to take a 12-9 edge and power past the Raiders using another .550 team hitting percentage.

Rivier kept it close as a Racine Camara kill kept it as close as 12-10. From there, Vassar would close out the set to earn the sweep.

Neil Rea (11) and Davin Siharath (9) combined to dish out 20 assists in the contest. Peace’s eight kills at a .250 clip were a team best.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

ALBERTUS MAGNUS 89, RIVIER 62

The visiting Raiders fell to 11-5 (4-3 GNAC) while defending GNAC Albertus jumped to 15-3 overall (7-0 GNAC) in New Haven, Conn.

Odarius Cade scored 14 of his 24 points in the first half as the Raiders fell behind 47-33 at the intermission.

The Falcons were able to keep their foot on the gas through the final 20 minutes, outscoring the Raiders 42-29.

Cade shot 58.8% as he led the team in scoring. Nikolas Pignone scored 13 points off the bench as he hit half of his six three-point attempts. Devin Owens totaled 12 points on 40% shooting.

Rivier will return to action in a non-conference matchup with Lesley on Tuesday at 4 at the Muldoon Center.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

RIVIER 84, ALBERTUS MAGNUS 72

Despite a GNAC loss in New Haven, Conn., three Raiders tapped into double-digit points with a double-double performance by Lyric Grumblatt.

Rivier is now 6-11 overall and 4-3 in GNAC play. Albertus Magnus moved to 14-4 on the season and 6-1 in the GNAC.

Rivier came into the contest strong, taking control of the first quarter, 20-15. Going into halftime, the Raiders led the Falcons by one point 34-33. Keeping their momentum going, Riv won the third quarter, outscoring Albertus by five to lead things 54-48.

In the fourth, Albertus tallied 36 points to Rivier’s 18, rallying to down the guests.

Grumblatt totaled 20 points and 10 rebounds for Riv, followed by Rachel Guinn who put up 18 points on 4-of-11 (36.4%) three-point shooting and Alexa Dufries contributed 17 points as she made five of her 11 three-point tries (45.5%).

Alyssa Scharn scored all seven bench points for the Raiders as she logged 26 minutes in the contest.

Caitlin Scott was the muscle for Albertus Magnus this afternoon, recording 36 points, seven rebounds, and two assists.

The Raiders are back home in the Muldoon Center on Wednesday at 5 in a GNAC matchup against Lasell.

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