NEWPORT, R.I. – Nichols College first-year attacker Krista-Jean Forand (Plymouth, Mass.) scored five goals and an assist but the Bison's second-half comeback bid fell short as Salve Regina held on for a 12-9 win in The Commonwealth Coast Conference action Wednesday afternoon at the Lawrence Avenue Field.

Sophomore Nicole Viola scored four goals and dished out two assists to lead Salve Regina, while freshman Lucia Graves added two goals and two assists for the Seahawks, who won their second-straight contest to improve to 2-3 (1-1 TCCC) on the season. Nichols dips to 1-2 (0-2 TCCC).

The Seahawks raced put to a 4-0 lead midway through the first half behind two goals from Viola and one each from freshmen Sarah Livingston and Maria DeRobertis.

Forand's team-high seventh tally of the season at 10:29 broke the shutout for the Seahawks, who answered back with goals from Viola and Graves to take a 6-1 lead. Forand's second of the afternoon with 39 seconds remaining made it a 6-2 game through 30 minutes.

In the second half, first-year Ashley Gongas (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) netted her first collegiate goal to bring Nichols to within three at 6-3, but a pair of goals from senior Ashley Cunningham pushed the lead to 8-4 in favor of SRU with 26:37 remaining.

Forand responded with her third tally of the game to make it 8-5 before goals from Graves, Livingston, and senior Brittany Marino stretched the Seahawk lead to 11-5.

The Bison rallied late, scoring five of the final six goals – including two from Forand and the first collegiate tallies from Rachel Storey (Cumberland, Maine) and Brittany Tremont (Guilford, Conn.) – capped the scoring at 12-9.

Junior Sarah Baker made six saves to earn her second win of the season while first-year netminder Mary Michaud (Agawam, Mass.) made 12 for the Bison.

Nichols continues TCCC action hosting New England College Tuesday, March 31 at 7 p.m.

Story courtesy Salve Regina Sports Information

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