Box Score

DUDLEY, Mass. - The Nichols College men's soccer team defeated Coast Guard in non-conference action 1-0 Wednesday afternoon at the Nichols Soccer Field.

Sophomore Francesco Chiaravalloti (Torrington, Conn.) made four saves for the Bison (8-1-4) to pick up his second shutout of the season.

The Bears had a good chance just 12 minutes into the game when senior midfielder John Rendon (West Harwich, Mass.) tried to chip one over Chiaravalloti, but he made a back pedaling punch save.

Nichols first good opportunity came at the 37:00 minute mark when junior midfielder Michael Perry (Plainville, Mass.) shot a ball through traffic to the corner of the net and junior goaltender Richie Burns (Long Beach, Calif.) made a diving save to force a Bison corner kick.

It did not take the Bison long to get on the board in the second half, however it came in a very unconventional way. Senior forward Scott Palmerino (Southbridge, Mass.) threw it from close to the Bison bench into the box, and as CGA freshman defenseman Kyle Phillips (Juneau, Alaska) tried to clear it, the ball hit off the back of his foot and landed in the back of the net for an own goal.

From there, the Bison limited the Bears scoring opportunities and extended their unbeaten streak to four (3-0-1).

"We knew it would be a battle coming into the game," said Nichols head coach Chris Traina. "Francesco did a great job in goal and had some key saves."

Nichols hosts Salve Regina on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Nichols Soccer Field in a rematch of last year's Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) championship game. 

"Salve Regina is a very good, physical and technical team, so I think today's match helped us prepare for that," said Traina.

Coast Guard hosst conference foe WPI on Saturday at 11:00 a.m.