NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Norwich University received at least four goals from three different players and outshot Rivier University 54-20 in its 19-8 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory on a wet Wednesday evening at Sabine Field.

Norwich (3-1, 2-0 GNAC) remains unbeaten in GNAC play to open its conference slate while Rivier (1-1, 1-1 GNAC) now has a win and a loss in conference play.

Rivier took early command of the game scoring the first two goals of the game through the 6:30 mark of the opening quarter. Norwich responded with the final three goals of the period to take a slim 3-2 lead into the second frame.

After giving one back to the Raiders to knot the game at 3-3, the Cadets put up a five-spot over the next eight minutes capped by senior Russell Gilligan's (Fountain Hills, Ariz.) third goal of the game to take an 8-3 lead.

Senior Dylan McSparren and freshman Connor Eck would pair up to bring the Raiders to within 8-5 before the Cadets' freshman Mitchell McKay (Lynnfield, Mass.) scored with just 24 clicks left on the clock to send the hosts into the break with a 9-5 lead.

Norwich extended its lead in the third quarter by outscoring Rivier 4-2 to make it 13-7 heading into the final stanza. From there, the hosts tacked on six more goals to leave no doubt and secure their third win of the season.

The Cadets received a huge advantage at the face-off X with freshman Thomas Muraski (Keller, Texas) winning an impressive 21-of-27 faceoffs and collecting 15 groundballs. His late-game replacement sophomore Anthony Larson (Leominster, Mass.) added a 3-for-3 performance as well.

Leading the scoring for Norwich was Gilligan who scored a career-high five goals. McKay had his best offensive showing to date with four goals and was joined by senior Payden Masaracchia (Enola, Pa.) who also scored four while adding an assist. Graduate Jack Anzalone (Ridgewood, N.J.) notched two goals and two assists while junior Parker Campbell (Rockaway, N.J.) scored once and added four assists.

Getting the win in goal for Norwich was senior Nick Kandra (Crofton, Md.) who made six saves in net. His starting counterpart senior Ben Fitzpatrick stopped 13 shots before being replaced late by freshman Sawyer Gagnon who turned away a pair of shots on goal.

Norwich will return to action Saturday when it travels to St. Joseph (Conn.) for another GNAC showdown with game time set for 1 p.m.