Box Score
DUDLEY, Mass. – Senior
Emily Widdison (Greenfield, Mass.) scored a pair of goals and added an assist to lead Nichols past visiting Thomas, 4-3, in a non-conference field hockey matchup on a sun-soaked Saturday afternoon at Vendetti Field in the season opener for both teams.
Thomas took an early 1-0 lead with just 1:15 off the scoreboard as junior
Lauren Hachey (Oakland, Maine) deposited a feed from sophomore
Brittany Premo (Concord, N.H.) off a penalty corner. Just over nine minutes later Nichols junior
Amanda Broughton (Plymouth, Mass.) sent home a feed from Widdison to knot the game at 1-1. The Bison would take a 2-1 edge with just under four seconds remaining in the half as Widdison sent home her first goal of the afternoon with a close range shot.
After the intermission, Widdison struck once again with 1:41 elapsed in the frame as she corralled a rebound and beat the goalie with a backhanded shot. Sophomore
Jenn Townsend (Wethersfield, Conn.) threaded a scrum in front of the net to put the hosts ahead 4-1 with just over 20 minutes remaining in regulation.
Terriers senior
Ally Kennedy (Winthrop, Maine) brought the game within a score as she found the back of the net twice with a goal at 61:47 and again 2:57 later. Thomas had one final opportunity to send the game into overtime as the Terriers were awarded a penalty corner as time expired. The final shot would head to the left of the cage.
Bison sophomore netminder
Molly Melanson (Simsbury, Conn.) picked up the victory with a complete game effort. Nichols had an eye-popping 29-8 differential in the shot department.
Junior
Sofia Sourgiadakis (Littleton, N.H.) shouldered the loss and made one stop for the Terriers as classmate
Jasmine Bishop (Waterville, Maine) saw action in the second half and made a game-high three saves.. First-year
Erin Nelligan (Walpole, Mass.) collected a defensive save as she cleared the ball out with 24:05 left in the second half.
Nichols entertains Smith on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. while Thomas heads to Bridgewater State tomorrow for a noon matchup.
