He’s watched the game tape about, oh, maybe 15 to 20 times.

Self-torture? Not really. Rivier University men’s lacrosse coach Jay Delanoy probably just wanted to be sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him when he saw his heavily favored Raiders get upset by Saint Joseph’s of Connecticut 8-6 in the GNAC quarterfinals late last April.

Delanoy’s Raiders return to the scene of the crime, Rivier’s Joanne Merrill Field, what is certain to be the Chill on the Hill on Saturday. Late February doesn’t often produce lacrosse weather, especially in what will be a 2024 season opener vs. Curry College.

Time to move ahead. Actually, Delanoy has done that a while ago.

“A month,” he said when asked how long it took to get over that devastating loss. “Til I was out recruiting again.”

Last season was such a good year for the Raiders, and after losing just one senior, they’re picked No. 2 in the GNAC preseason poll. They’ve got familiar names like Salem’s Michael Ference, Boscawen’s Coby Mercier, Connor Eck, Nashua’s Chris Heitmiller, just to name a few. Since 2019 the Raiders have had 21 All-Conference players.

Delanoy is the school’s most successful men’s coach after volleyball head Craig Kolek. The Pinkerton Academy alum who learned the game from Hall of Famer Brian O’Reilly has a very simple outlook on that day.

“It’s just like the NBA,” he said. “It’s a make-or-miss league. If you make it, you make it. If you miss it, you miss it.”

And the Raiders simply missed too many shots that day. So Delanoy has a plan.

“We’re working more on shooting, more on everything,” he said as the team has been practicing for about a month now. “Energy level, focus, the duration of our focus and energy level. We’ve got big group of seniors, great leadership. … They all understand our process, they believe in our process, and they’re willing to do everything within the process to try to get outcomes.”

Saint Joseph’s Sebastian Fusco tries to poke the ball away from Rivier’s Coby Mercier during last April’s GNAC quarterfinal at Merrill Field. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

Delanoy gave his players a simple message: “You can work as hard as you want to work,” he said. “If you don’t get what you wanted, it doesn’t mean you need to work less, it means you need to work more.”

There is no lack of interest in this program. The Pavilion certainly in a sharp contrast to when Delanoy first began his Raider tenure some 13 years ago. Time flies.

“When I first started, we had one portapoddy, and a set of junior high bleachers,” he said. “Now there’s a stadium, a lot more going on, a lot more interest. Everything on the whole campus and in the school is going in the right direction.”

The stadium was packed for that game last April. It was packed for the quarterfinal the Raiders won the previous year as well, a game that went to overtime.

“It’s a great atmosphere for the men to play in,” Delanoy said. “They get more excited to play in front of more people than just Mom and Dad. The bigger the crowd, the bigger the moment, the bigger you’ve got to play.”

Delanoy feels his roster recruits the next roster. He’s done a great job and his Raiders deserved better last year, but that’s sports, right?

Bundle up if you’re going Saturday, and think warm thoughts about the Raiders playing another big tourney game here in late April. And maybe a couple more.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on X, formerly twitter, @Telegraph _TomK.

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