Box Score DUDLEY, Mass. (Oct. 31) – Led by a career-high four goals from senior Sara Bailey (Athol, Mass.), the third-seeded Nichols College field hockey team defeated sixth-seeded Gordon College, 5-0, in the The Commonwealth Coast Conference quarterfinals Saturday afternoon at Vendetti Field. Nichols ties a program record with 16 wins on the season at 16-3 overall and travels to second-seeded University of New England on Wednesday, November 4th for the TCCC semifinals.
Bailey got things going quickly for the Bison, tallying her first of the day off a quick netfront pass from sophomore Lauren Correia (Seekonk, Mass.) less than two minutes into the game. Junior Eileen Clinton (Londonderry, N.H.) swiped a ball in front of the net to find Bailey at the post again in the 11th minute for the 2-0 lead before Bailey picked up the hat trick seven minutes later on a long sweeping unassisted shot.
Emily Widdison (Greenfield, Mass.) fired a pass into the arc that found Bailey waiting amid a crowd for her career-best fourth goal to start the scoring in the second half, extending the Bison's lead to four in the 57th minute.
Clinton fed Bison leading scorer Chelsea Correia (Seekonk, Mass.) for her team-leading 14th goal of the season to cap the scoring in the 65th minute.
Samantha Neverett threatened with a breakaway in the waning minutes, but the Nichols defense forced a corner in the situation and Bison goalkeeper Krista-Jean Forand (Plymouth, Mass.) came up with two big saves in the set to end the threat.
Forand finished with five saves in her sixth shutout of the season, while Gordon sophomore Alicia L'Heureux stopped seven in the opening 60 minutes before giving way to freshman Arielle Cimino, who allowed the final goal while making three saves.
Gordon wraps up the season at 5-15 overall.
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