NORTHFIELD, Vt. - Returning to Sabine Field at Haynes Family Stadium for the first time in 13 days, the Norwich University men's lacrosse team delivered a commanding performance on Tuesday afternoon, fending off an early push from Regis College before pulling away for a 20-9 victory in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action.

Christian Rainis (Wynantskill, N.Y.) turned in a career effort, matching personal bests with five goals and seven points while adding two assists and three ground balls to lead the Cadets.  Jake Marcotte (Old Orchard Beach, Maine) followed with a six-point outing on four goals and two assists, while Robert McAllister (Amherst, Mass.) and Drew Fleury (Nashua, N.H.) each contributed four-point performances.  McAllister finished with a goal and three assists, and Fleury added a hat trick with a helper.

Jackson Forbes (Merrimack, N.H.) tallied two goals and an assist, and Case MacDonald (Burke, Va.) found the back of the net twice.  Liam O'Neil (Hingham, Mass.), Nicholas Wolfgang (New Port Richey, Fla.), and Zachary Cooney (Victor, N.Y.) each scored once, while David Myers (Hainesport, N.J.) and Ryan Magararu (Newtonville, Mass.) chipped in assists.

The opening quarter featured a back-and-forth exchange, with neither side able to create significant separation.  Fleury opened the scoring nearly five minutes in off a feed from McAllister, but Regis answered just 40 seconds later.  Rainis responded almost immediately, finishing an assist from Myers 12 seconds after the restart, only to see the Pride equalize again 25 seconds later.

Unassisted goals from Forbes and Marcotte briefly gave Norwich breathing room, but Regis continued to answer, cutting the margin to one midway through the frame.  The Cadets finally found a sustained rhythm late in the quarter, closing on a 3-1 run over the final 122 seconds.  MacDonald accounted for two of those tallies, both assisted by Forbes and McAllister, before Marcotte added another to give Norwich a 7-4 lead after one.

Norwich extended its advantage in the second quarter, striking twice in a nine-second span early in the period as Fleury and Rainis converted to push the lead further, with Magararu assisting on the latter.  After Regis halted the surge with a goal, Rainis struck again off a McAllister feed, and Forbes added another score late in the half to send the Cadets into the break with an 11-5 cushion.

The Pride attempted to claw back early in the third quarter, trimming the deficit despite a Marcotte goal off a Rainis assist to open the half.  Regis capitalized on a brief stretch to pull within five, but Norwich responded emphatically with a three-goal burst. Rainis and O'Neil each finished feeds from Marcotte before Marcotte added one of his own to restore control.

Norwich continued to maintain momentum down the stretch of the quarter, answering another Regis tally with unassisted goals from Fleury and Wolfgang to carry a 17-8 advantage into the final period.

The Cadets added two more midway through the fourth, as Rainis converted on a man-up opportunity before Fleury set up McAllister for another score.  Regis managed a man-up goal of its own, but Norwich closed the scoring with Cooney finishing a Rainis assist with three minutes remaining to secure the 20-9 victory.

Norwich controlled several key areas statistically, including a 26-32 edge in clears while limiting Regis to just 15 successful clears.  The Cadets also held a slight advantage on the ground, collecting 35 ground balls to the Pride's 33.

Magararu played a pivotal role in possession, winning 17 face-offs while collecting a team-high eight ground balls.  Defensively, Norwich generated nine caused turnovers, led by two from Harrison Poquette (South Burlington, Vt.).

Mason Dils (Watervliet, N.Y.) anchored the defensive effort in goal, earning his sixth win of the season with 14 saves across 60 minutes, while also contributing a caused turnover and a ground ball.

The victory preserves Norwich's perfect all-time record against Regis, improving to 8-0 in the series dating back to the Pride's entry into the GNAC in 2017.

With Saturday's contest against Elms College canceled, the Cadets will return to action on Wednesday, Apr. 15, traveling to Emmanuel College (Mass.) for a 7:00 p.m. conference matchup.  Norwich will then visit Dean College on Apr. 18 before closing the regular season at home against Colby-Sawyer College on Monday, Apr. 20.