NASHUA, N.H. – The Castleton University men's lacrosse team hung tight with Rivier for the first 30 minutes of action on Wednesday night, but the second half went heavily in the Raiders' favor as Castleton came up on the wrong side of a 13-4 final score on the road in non-conference action.
 
The Spartans (0-2) trailed 5-3 at the half, but Rivier (1-1) outscored the Spartans 8-1 after the break to seal the victory. The Spartans were 10-of-14 clearing the ball and won seven face-offs, while Rivier held a 47-35 edge in shots and a 23-21 edge in shots on goal.
 
Casey Meczywor, Connor Rider, Chris Labonte and Hunter Sarro all netted goals in the contest. Meczywor also had two ground balls and two caused turnovers in the game. Griffin Weller also had two ground balls, while Finn Miller won four of his nine face-off attempts. Chris Wilk stopped 10 shots between the pipes.
 
Michael Ference had 10 points on three goals and seven assists for Rivier, while Colby Mercier and Chris Heitmiller had three goals and two assists each. Alan Cozzolino had five ground balls and won 7-of-8 face-offs. Sawyer Gagnon made 13 saves In 55 minutes for the Raiders.
 
Rivier jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but Sarro halved the gap with a score midway through the opening quarter. The Raiders tacked on a third goal to go up 3-1 after 15 minutes.
 
The Raiders found the back of the net for a 4-1 lead, but Rider made it 4-2 just moments later. The two sides traded scores once more, with Meczywor cutting the gap to 5-3 heading into halftime.
 
Rivier scored four straight goals out of halftime, running out to a 9-3 lead before Labonte stopped the run with a goal of his own for the Spartans. The Raiders added four more scores before the end of the contest, capping the 13-4 contest.
 
The Spartans are back in action Friday at 3 p.m. against University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) at Dave Wolk Stadium.