Box Score DUDLEY, Mass. (Oct. 9) – Junior Nicole Johnson (Westhampton, Mass.) scored two goals to lead the Nichols College women's soccer team to a 3-0 victory over Anna Maria in a The Commonwealth Coast Conference game at Vendetti Field Friday evening. Johnson took a break from her usual spot between the pipes to lead the Nichols to its second conference victory as the Bison improve to 2-6 in TCCC games and 5-8 overall. The AMCATS drop to 1-12 overall and 0-8 in conference action.
Neither team found the net in the first half, and it took to the 61st minute for Johnson to put the Bison on the board as she broke up the left side of the field and battled with a pair of AMCATS defenders before turning inside the box and firing past a diving Tabitha Ruggeri.
Kelly Gilbert (Blackstone, Mass.) recorded her first career goal seven minutes later to give Nichols a two-goal advantage. Holly Ventura (Hudson, Mass.) passed across the box to Gilbert, who quickly turned and fired past Ruggeri.
Johnson capped the scoring just two minutes later when she finished a loft-ahead pass from Gina Williamson (Westfield, Mass.).
Hevy looked to put the AMCATS on the board with 11 minutes left in the game when she collected a loose ball amidst a crowd of players in front of the Bison net, but her shot careened off the left post.
Nichols had the first good chance to score in the opening frame in the 15th minute when Kaitlyn DiBuono (Auburn, Mass.) broke up the right sideline with the ball and slipped it to Chelsea Shaughnessy (Halifax, Mass.) in the box, but Shaughnessy's shot skipped just to the right of the net.
The AMCATS responded in the 28th minute when Amanda Hevy fired a direct kick from 21 yards out, but her shot sailed wide left. Then with 12 seconds left in the first stanza, Moira Twigg's free kick from 25 yards out was stopped by Nichols netminder Andrea D'Antuono (West Greenwich, R.I.), but the ball popped out of the first-year keeper's hands. It dropped to the ground, but D'Antuono was able to scoop it up as time expired to keep the score deadlocked at 0-0 headed into halftime.
D'Antuono made two saves in her second win of the season, while Ruggeri was tagged with the loss despite six saves. She gave way to Skylor Miller in the 76th minute.
Nichols starts a two-game road trip at Western New England College Tuesday at 3:30 p.m., while Anna Maria hosts Curry Thursday at 4 p.m.
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