NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The Norwich University men's lacrosse team wrapped up their 2025 season on Wednesday afternoon with a 14-6 setback to Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) powerhouse Rivier University at Sabine Field at Haynes Family Stadium.

Facing off against a Rivier squad that entered the day unbeaten in conference play, the Cadets battled valiantly on their home turf but could not overcome an early deficit as the Raiders rode a strong start and balanced attack to victory.

Three different Cadets found the back of the net, led by junior Drew Fleury (Nashua, N.H.), who tallied a hat trick and added an assist for a four-point performance.  Christian Rainis (Wynantskill, N.Y.) chipped in a pair of goals, while David Gosselin (South Burlington, Vt.) added a late tally.  Nicholas Wolfgang (New Port Richey, Fla.) notched the other helper on the day.

Norwich forced 11 caused turnovers in a gritty defensive effort, with two apiece from Rainis, Luke Pineo (Cotuit, Mass.), and Clayton Cisar (Aberdeen, Md.).  At the faceoff X, Jackson Forbes (Merrimack, N.H.) held his own against Rivier's specialists, winning 10 draws while collecting a team-best five ground balls.  Fleury followed closely with four.

In goal, senior Thomas Hopkins (Chelmsford, Mass.) and sophomore Mason Dils (Watervliet, N.Y.) split time between the pipes.  Dils got the start and logged seven saves through the first half, while Hopkins closed out his collegiate career with 10 stops in the second, including several point-blank denials to keep Norwich within reach.

Rivier opened the game with a 3-0 run, blanking the Cadets through the first quarter.  Fleury finally got Norwich on the board just over two minutes into the second frame.  After a quick Raider response, Fleury set up Rainis for a crisp finish to pull Norwich back within two at 4-2.

The Raiders answered with a critical four-goal burst spanning the late second and early third quarters to push their lead to 8-2.  Rainis momentarily halted the run with an unassisted goal at the 1:56 mark of the third, and just over a minute later, Gosselin buried a shot off a feed from Wolfgang to make it 9-4 entering the fourth quarter.

Rivier would go on to net five of the final seven goals in the last frame.  Fleury added a late exclamation point to his day, scoring twice in the final 25 seconds, to cap the scoring at 14-6.

The loss closes out the season for Norwich, while Rivier remains unbeaten in GNAC play at 9-0 and secures the top seed in the North Division in the GNAC Tournament.