Matt Youngquist drives to the hoop for Rivier in Saturday's win over Anna Maria at the Muldoon Center. (Photo courtesy of Rivier Athletics)

NASHUA – The Rivier men’s basketball team bested former conference foe Anna Maria, 78-54, Saturday afternoon at the Muldoon Center in the team’s first game back from the winter break.

With the win, the Raiders improved to 6-6, while the AMCATS fell to 3-6.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Senior Jamari Williams won the opening tip, and Rivier set the tone early defensively, forcing multiple turnovers before senior Robenson Baguidy recorded the game’s first basket at 17:50.

Anna Maria recorded their first basket of the contest at 13:45, making it a four-point game, however sophomore Matt Youngquist answered with his first three of the afternoon the following possession.

The Raiders continued to control the pace throughout the first half, stretching the margin to 24-8, following a pair of layups from first-year Daylen Dalcour and junior Theo Briscoe IV.Rivier closed out the opening frame up 31-19, while forcing 10 turnovers defensively.

The Raiders continued to surge in the second half, shooting 50% from the field, including six shots made from distance.

Rivier extended its lead to 26 behind three threes from Youngquist and interior scoring from sophomore Steph Barnes, just past the five-minute mark in the second half.

The AMCATS closed on a small run, but the Raiders maintained full control to secure the 78-54 victory.

BOX SCORE BREAKDOWN

Youngquist led the offense with 25 points, including 7-10 from deep, and eight rebounds…Baguidy followed close behind with a double-double comprised of 20 points and 10 assists…Dalcour added 12 points off the bench with seven rebounds…Senior Izaiah Shaw-Glen controlled the boards with a game-high 10 rebounds.

UP NEXT

The Raiders return to the court Tuesday for their Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play opener at Emmanuel (Mass.). Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m. at the Jean Yawkey Center in Boston.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

RIVIER 10, KINGS 1

Eight different Raiders found the back of the net in rout of the Rivier women’s ice hockey team’s 10-1 victory over King’s (Pa.) at the Revolution Ice Centre to complete the weekend series sweep.

With the win, the Raiders improved to 8-4, while the Monarchs fell to 0-12.

Juniors Tia Picardi and Haylie Grossmann found first-year Casey Roth to open the scoring just shy of six minutes into the opening period.First-year Chloe Bryda recorded her third goal of the weekend and first of the game just shy of the midway point of the period, giving Rivier a 2-0 lead.

First-year Lexi Davies connected with junior Rebecca McKelvey and Bryda for the third goal of the frame for the Raiders just two minutes later.

McKelvey capped off the first period scoring with an unassisted tally with 4:59 remining.

The Raiders picked up right where they left off with sophomore Lillian Wojcicki firing home an unassisted score 8:26 into the second period.

Bryda found twine with 5:09 remining in the period following assists from first-year Mary Kelley and sophomore Keegan McGaheran, securing back-to-back multigoal games and giving Rivier a 6-0 lead.

King’s recorded their first and only tally just a minute later, cutting the deficit to five once again.

The Raiders concluded the second period with five consecutive shots, but were able to tuck one in, taking their 6-1 lead into the second intermission.

An early power play opportunity for the Monarchs turned positive for Rivier as Kelley logged her first short-handed goal of her career.

The Raiders scored three more goals in the final five minutes of action, the first coming off the stick of senior Olivia Schultz on the women advantage.

Wojcicki logged her second goal of the game just 18 seconds following Schultz’s to give Rivier a 9-1 lead.

Senior Jessica Driscoll rounded out the scoring in the contest, finding the back of the net off passes from McKelvey and senior Molly Dukesherer and sealed the 10-1 victory for the Raiders.

Junior Taylor Bruno and first-year Kailyn Williams split time in net, with Bruno stopping 12 shots and Williams saving nine shots.

Bryda and McKelvey each recorded three points, followed by five different Raiders recording two. As a team, Rivier outshot King’s 104-39 (55-22 on goal).

The Raiders return to the ice on the road Friday for a non-conference matchup with Nichols. Puck-drop is scheduled for 3:40 p.m. at Levy Rink.

On Friday night, the Raiders had a much closer tussle with Kings, winning 3-2. Just past the midway point in the period, first-year Chloe Bryda capitalized on a turnover in King’s defensive zone created by senior Molly Dukesherer, leveling the contest 1-1 after firing home a shot in the top right corner of the net.

Both squads traded chances in the final minutes of the first period, but neither was able to find the back of the net, heading into the first intermission knotted up at one.

The Raiders broke the deadlock with 5:07 in the second stanza, as junior Haylie Grossmann found Bryda for her second of the game, giving Rivier a 2-1 advantage.

With just 30 second left in the second period, senior defender Olivia Schultz found first-year Lexi Davies snuck one past the glove of the goaltender to take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission.

King’s College recorded one final tally with 1:31 remaining, but were unable to complete the comeback, sealing the game, 3-2.

First-year goaltender Emily Krauss logged 25 saves in her third win.

MEN’S HOCKEY

SAINT MICHAELS 6, RIVIER 2

The Rivier men’s ice hockey went 0-2 on their weekend trip to Cairns Arena in South Burlington, Vt. With the result, the Raiders moved to 1-12-1, while the Purple Knights moved to 7-4-3.

Saint Michael’s set the tone early, scoring twice in the opening period.

The teams traded chances in the second, each recording 11 shots, before the Purple Knights added a goal at the 17:10 mark to extend the lead, 3-0

Saint Michael’s tacked on three goals in the opening 12 minutes of the third to push the margin to six.

Rivier got on the board at 1:17 of the third as first-year Aaron Sawicki won the faceoff and fired home a shot set up by senior Ryan Cardow and first-year Jacob Bodin. Sophomore Michael Caparco added a late tally at 18:43, finishing a pass from first-year Mason Rudrud to make it 6-2.

Saint Michael’s outshot Rivier 36-31 while Raiders junior goaltender Mason Meyer recorded 20 saves. The Purple Knights controlled faceoffs 38-26.

The Raiders return to action on Friday, January 9, for an intrastate match-up with Southern New Hampshire University. Puck drop is set for 7:40 p.m. at the Ice Den Arena.