Box Score
DUDLEY, Mass. - Seniors
Fred Willard (Webster, Mass.) and
Scott Palmerino (Southbridge, Mass.) each netted a pair of goals to help the Nichols College men's soccer team rally past Eastern Nazarene 4-2 in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action Saturday morning on Senior Day at the Nichols Soccer Field.
The win moves the Bison to 11-1-4 (6-1-1 CCC) and extends their winning streak over the Lions (3-14-0, 1-8-0 CCC) to seven matches. Nichols also extends its streak of 11+ win season to six and secures a first round home playoff game next weekend.
Nichols outshot Eastern Nazarene 25-3 on the afternoon. Junior
Jeremy Nash (West Springfield, Mass.) made one save to pick up his 10th win of the season.
In the 11th minute, Palmerino took a pass from sophomore
Tiago Prazeres (West Hartford, Conn.) and put it into the lower right corner of the goal to give the Bison the early 1-0 lead. The Lions evened the score at one just before the end of the first half when junior Scott Hansen (Middletown Spring, Vt.) chipped it into an empty net after receiving the free kick from classmate Jared Corbin (Fallston, Md.).
It did not take the Lions long in the second half to get something started as in the 50th minute, Corbin sent another free kick into the box. This time, junior Austin Boucher (Masfield, Mass.) put it into the back of the net for a 2-1 ENC lead.
Five minutes later, Willard crossed up the defender and put one past junior goaltender Jake Johnson (Mount Bethel, Pa.) to even things at two. Junior captain
Michael Perry (Plainville, Mass) passed it up to Palmerino two minutes after Willard's equalizer, and Palmerino scored into the right side of the goal passed a diving Johnson for his second goal of the game.
In the 82nd minute, sophomore
Isaac Alvarenga (Milford, Mass.) crossed it to Willard, who put it into the back of the net for his second goal of the game to seal the deal for the Bison.
The Bison close the regular season with a 4 p.m. match at Curry on Tuesday. Eastern Nazarene hosts Salve Regina on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
