NASHUA, N.H. – The Norwich University men's lacrosse team held off Rivier University's late offensive attack, seeking to tie up the score with under a minute to play before the Cadets' defensive unit forced a Raider turnover, carried the ball down the field and burned time off the board for the 11-10 victory.
 
With the win, the Cadets clinched the third spot in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) standings at 6-2 in league play and 8-8 on the year. The Raiders fall to 10-6 on the year and 4-4 in the conference, clinching the sixth and final spot in the standings to advance onto the playoffs.
 
Sophomore Josh Jenkins (Centennial, Colo.) led the scoring spree with five goals for the Cadets, while senior Ryan McCarthy (Medford, Mass.) collected a hat-trick with classmate Matt Flaherty (Portland, Maine) and sophomore Nolan Aurelia (Stratford, Conn.) chipped in two and one goals, respectively.
 
The Raiders were led by freshman Colby Larsen (Windham, N.H.) with seven points on five goals and two assists, while sophomore Liam Ryan (Dorchester, Mass.) posted a hat-trick and an assist. Sophomore Tyler Tambouris (Hooksett, N.H.) and senior Cody Lynch (Salem, N.H.) each netted a goal for Rivier.
 
The Cadets opened the contest with back-to-back goals from Jenkins before Lynch netted his first goal to put the Raiders on the board. Norwich would close out the first quarter with a goal from Flaherty before the Raiders responded with a pair of goals to in the second quarter to equalize the game at three goals apiece.
 
Norwich would score two more from McCarthy and Aurelia within a minute of each other as the Cadets held on for the 5-3 advantage at the half.
 
Larsen would score three straight in a span of five minutes to give the Raiders their first lead of the game, 6-5, before Jenkins scored behind his back unassisted to knot it at six.  
 
The Raiders and Cadets would score two more before the end of the third quarter with the game tied at eight goals apiece.
 
Norwich got ahead once again as Jenkins and Flaherty found the back of the net at the seven-minute mark to give the Cadets the 10-8 lead. The Raiders needed just 10 seconds to score tie the game at 10 as they quickly won the face off and wasted no time to find the back of the net.
 
The Raiders would win the next face-off attempt and looked to score the go-ahead goal but the Cadets' defense clamped down on their efforts, forcing Rivier to turn the ball over and carry it down field to Norwich's offensive side. From there, Norwich called for time and set up a play that resulted in Jenkins scoring the game-winning goal and his fifth goal of the game.
 
River looked to tie up the contest, winning the face-off and pulling off a shot, but the ball would be stopped by Norwich's goalie Ian Kriger (Burlington, Mass.) as he helped the defensive unit clear the ball to the offensive zone where the Cadets would hold onto the ball for the final 21 seconds and burned time off the clock for the win.
 
Kriger would come up with 11 saves on 21 shots the his eighth win of the year for the Cadets, while Rivier's Clark Plummer (Londonderry, N.H.) collected seven saves on 18 shots for the losing side.
 
With a third place spot in hand, the Cadets will advance onto the GNAC Tournament for the fifth straight year. Norwich will host sixth-seeded Rivier University in the first round of the GNAC Tournament on Wednesday, May 4 at Sabine Field. Time is set for 7 p.m.