Drea Dwyer's goal was the diference in the Rivier women's soccer team's 3-2 win over Regis on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Rivier Athletics)

NASHUA – The Rivier women’s soccer team picked up its first win of the 2025 campaign in its Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opener on Saturday, defeating Regis (Mass.) 3-2 at Joanne Merrill Field. Three different Raiders found the back of the net to secure the win.

With the result, the Raiders improved to 1-2-1 (1-0 GNAC), while the Pride dropped to 0-3-1 (0-1 GNAC).

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Raiders controlled the first half offensively, as sophomore defender Lily Garey-Wright slotted her first collegiate goal top right corner from outside the 18-yard box to put Rivier up 1-0.

Amber Casner subbed in during the 26th minute and quickly made her mark, finishing a cross from first-year Bailey Gatchell three minutes later to push Rivier’s lead to 2-0.

Regis pressured the Raiders’ back line, forcing senior goalkeeper Bri Nugent to make two timely saves to maintain their two-goal lead heading into the half.

The Pride found the back of the net just three minutes into the second half to cut the lead in half. Drea Dwyer answered for the Raiders, burying a shot into the bottom-left corner to extend the lead to 3-1. That proved to be the difference as the Pride added a goal in the 86th minute in a final push, cutting the lead once again to 3-2.

BOXSCORE BREAKDOWN

Each team had equal corner kick opportunities, 7-7.

Rivier held the slight edge on total shots taken, 17-12.

Nugent and first-year Olivia Rosario split time in the net, each playing 45 minutes between the posts.

UP NEXT

The Raiders return to the pitch for a non-conference game against Suffolk University at East Boston Memorial Park on Wednesday 7 p.m.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

RAIDERS BEAT CLARK, BOWS TO WESTCONN

The Rivier women’s volleyball team split its tri-match, deafeating Clark in straight sets, but falling to Western Connecticut in a five-set thriller Saturday afternoon at the William O’Neill Athletic Center in Danbury, Conn.

With the results, the Raiders moved to 2-4, while the Cougars fell to 0-2 and the Wolves improved to 2-2.

Rivier 3, Clark 0

Rivier jumped out to an early 4-0 lead on a service run by sophomore Lily Seibel in the first set, but Clark clawed its way back to even the match at 6-6. Both teams traded opportunities until late in the set, as the Raiders completed a four-point swing, taking a 22-20 advantage.

The Cougars responded once more, leveling the match at 23-23, before a kill by sophomore Lydia Brakefield propelled Rivier to take the opening set.

The Raiders maintained their momentum to start the second set, taking a 10-2 lead. Rivier continued to thrive offensively, extending its lead to as much as ten points and securing the set 25-16, as a result of kills by Brakefield, seniors Callie Nanos and Ali Rivera, Seibel, and junior Sam Driend

The third set began much like the first, with both teams trading opportunities.Neither side held a lead larger than three points until the Raiders concluded the set with seven straight points, with sophomore Savannah Dunne securing the match with her fifth kill of the afternoon.

Driend led the offense with 11 kills, hitting a .308 clip, and contributed 11 digs.Seibel posted a team-high 28 assists, adding 12 digs to the stat sheet.

Senior Kaitlyn Miller led the defense with 16 digs.

Rivier led Clark in hitting percentage (.198-.075), assists (37-26), kills (38-27), aces (7-4), blocks (4-2), and digs (58-53)

WestConn 3, Rivier 2

Both teams traded points to being the opening set until they were deadlocked at 12. Rivier put together a four-point run, capitalizing on a series of errors to take a 16-12 lead. Despite the Wolves efforts to complete the comeback, Driend sealed the set 25-18 with a kill.

WestConn flipped the script in the second and third sets taking a 2-1 match lead by a combined score of 50-29.The Wolves looked to have put themselves in a good position to take the match, taking a 7-2 lead to begin the fourth set

The Raiders found their stride, rallying for seven straight points. Back-to-back kills from Nanos put Rivier out of reach.

Nanos added one more kill to take the set 25-19 and even the match, 2-2

WestConn jumped out to a 3-1, but were met with a three-point run by the Raiders to tie the final set, 4-4. Rivier continued to build off the early rally, taking an 8-6 lead at the switch. Following a timeout, the Wolves outscored the Raiders 9-3 to take the set and the match.

Rivera led the offense with 15 kills and a .146 hitting percentage, while adding 13 kills, while Seibel tied her career-high in assists with 32, adding 12 digs and Miller added 18 more kills to make her total on the day to 34

The Raiders out-blocked the Wolves 10-5

UP NEXT

The Raiders head back to Nashua on Tuesday to take on Wellesley for their first home contest of the season. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Muldoon Center.

MEN’S SOCCER POSTPONED

The Rivier men’s soccer game vs. St.Joseph’s of Maine was suspended and later postponed due to the inclement weather Saturday afternoon. No makeup has been announced as of yet.