PAXTON, Mass. – Sophomore forward Nicole Johnson (Westhampton, Mass.) scored two goals and added an assist to spark Nichols College to a 5-1 victory over Anna Maria College on a cold and windy Wednesday afternoon at Klingele Field. Senior Kaila Gray (Pembroke, N.H.) added a pair of scores for the Bison, who improved their The Commonwealth Coast Conference record to 6-6-1 and secured the eighth seed in the TCCC playoffs. Nichols, which wrapped up the regular season with a 10-7-1 overall mark, will travel to top seed Endicott (12-0-1) Saturday for a 1 p.m. TCCC quarterfinal game.

The Bison came out of the gate strong as Gray scored the game's first goal in just the seventh minute of play. Nichols continued to apply the pressure, scoring three goals in three minutes as first-year forward Chelsea Shaughnessy (Halifax, Mass.),  Johnson, and Gray all found the back of the net.

The AMCATS showed signs of life while getting an unassisted goal from freshman Amanda Hevy before the first half came to a close with the Bison leading 4-1.

Johnson added another goal in the second half as the Bison went on to take the game by the final score of 5-1.

Senior netminder Sarah Levesque (Ludlow, Mass.) made six saves in the game, including four second-half stops, in the win. Karine Almeida shouldered the loss with eight saves for Anna Maria, which finishes the season at 3-12-4, going 0-12-1 in conference play.

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