Box Score DUDLEY, Mass. (Nov. 3) – The top-seeded Nichols College men's soccer team advanced to the The Commonwealth Coast Conference championship game Wednesday, ousting fourth-seeded Salve Regina, 3-1 in penalty kicks after neither team managed to score through 110 minutes of play. The Bison return to the title match for the second time in three years, and will host third-seeded Gordon on Saturday, November 6th at 1 p.m. on Michael J. Vendetti Field.
Nichols improves its program-best ledger to 15-3-2 with its record-setting 13th shutout of the season. Salve Regina moves to 13-5-2 on the year.
Senior midfielder
Matthew Nash (West Springfield, Mass.) clinched the game in the fifth round for the Bison, who had three opportunities to advance. Leading, 2-0,
Michael Schell (South Windsor, Conn.) led off the fourth round and was denied by first-year keeper Adam Boyette, who came in for the Seahawks after the second overtime. Salve Regina's Patrick Charland followed by making his kick to bring it to 2-1 in favor of the Bison before Nash sent Nichols to the title game.
The first half was a defensive battle as there were only a combined nine shots through 45 minutes. Ian Jentgen had a late header for the Seahawks, but Nichols keeper
Brendan Hamilton (North Attleboro, Mass.) kept the game scoreless headed into the break.
Nichols had the bulk of the chances in the second half, including a Schell shot that Salve Regina starting keeper Devin O'Gorman dove to stop in the 47th minute, but the Bison saw several threats sail just wide.
Hamilton came up big in the 95
th minute with a point-blank diving stop on Sean McAllister's (North Arlington, N.J.) breakaway attempt. In the second overtime, Nichols'
Brendan Whitson (Auburn, Mass.) was a key playmaker, but the Bison couldn't get the ball on net.
Hamilton finished with two saves on the night, while O'Gorman stopped four shots, three coming in the extra sessions.
Nichols held an 8-3 advantage in corner kicks and enjoyed a 27-14 lead in shots.
Gordon defeated the second seed, Western New England, 3-1, in the semifinals, and won the regular-season matchup against the Bison, 1-0, in Wenham.
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