Rivier keeper Logan Clough had four saves in Wednesday's scoreless tie. (:Photo courtesy of Rivier Athletics)

NASHUA – The Rivier men’s soccer team earned its second straight point to open the season, playing to a 0-0 tie with Fitchburg St. Wednesday evening at Joanne Merrill Field.

With that result, the Raiders moved 0-0-2, while the Falcons record changed to 0-1-1.

Fitchburg St. had a chance to break through in the 18th minute, but junior goalkeeper Logan Clough made a big save to keep the game level.

Rivier responded with pressure in the attacking third, as sophomore Aidan Gulli, junior Matthews Ferreira, and sophomore Alejandro Quezada all recorded shots on goal, forcing Falcon goalkeeper Malcolm Edwards into key saves.

In the second half, both sides exchanged opportunities, with Clough turning away multiple shots to preserve the clean sheet.

Both teams substituted late in an attempt to break the deadlock.

Quezada logged the contests’ final chance, a free kick opportunity in the 90th minute, that was turned away.

The match saw five yellow cards shown by the referee, four to the Falcons, one to the Raiders.

BOX SCORE BREAKDOWN

Ferreira led the offense with three shots, followed by Gulli and graduate Drew Sacca who each recorded two. Fitchburg held the slight edge on shots, 13-11.

Clough recorded his first shutout of the season with four saves; the lone corner in the contest was awarded to the Falcons

UP NEXT

The Raiders return to action Saturday, Sept. 6 for their Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opener as they take on Saint Joseph’s (Me.). Kickoff is set for 2:00 p.m. at Joanne Merrill Field.

FIELD HOCKEY

SALEM STATE 4, RIVIER 3(OT)

The game was decided in the final two minutes of overtime as Sarah Giondriddo found Zoey Radford, who scored the game-winning goal inside of two minutes. With the result, the Raiders fell to 0-2-0, and the Vikings improved to 1-1-0.

Sophomore Kelsey Bain opened the scoring 90 seconds into the contest, giving the Raiders an early 1-0 lead. The Vikings responded just 20 seconds later to level the score, 1-1.

Five minutes into the second quarter, senior Reilly Swislosky connected with Brianna Spinelli to put the Raiders up, 2-1.

The Vikings found the back of the net late in the second quarter, once again bringing the score even entering half.

The score remained the same despite Rivier outshooting Salem St. 11-3 in the quarter. The Vikings took their first lead of the game just under three minutes into the fourth quarter.

Spinelli scored her second goal of the afternoon in the 50th minute to tie the game, 3-3.

The contest remained tied at the end of regulation despite the late offensive push from the Raiders, forcing overtime.

BOXSCORE BREAKDOWN

The Raiders outshot the Vikings, 38-22.

Spinelli led the Rivier offense, tallying five shots on goal and scoring twice.

Rivier held the slight edge on penalty corner opportunities, 10-6.

UP NEXT

The Raiders return home to Joanne Merrill Field for a non-conference match-up against the Terriers of Thomas (Me.) College, on Sunday at 1 p.m.