Box Score

DUDLEY, Mass. – Freshman Chris Litchfield (Burlington, Mass.) scored three goals in his first collegiate game for Nichols College, which dropped a 9-7 decision to UMass Boston in non-conference men's lacrosse action Tuesday night at a rainy Vendetti Field.

Sophomore Michael Bane (North Grafton, Mass.) also picked up a hat trick for the Bison (0-1), who outshot the Beacons 39-29 on the evening and forced 29 turnovers. Senior Macaulay Gillis (Northborough, Mass.) recorded two assists.

The Beacons (2-2) were led by sophomore Donny Delpha (Walpole, Mass.), who tallied three goals and is now tied for the team lead with seven. Classmate John Powers (Marshfield, Mass.) recorded four points (1-3-4) while junior Thomas Petitti (Quincy, Mass.) notched two goals and sophomore Ryan McGoff (Charlestown, Mass.) racked up a goal and an assist.

Nichols trailed 5-4 at halftime but knotted the game at five at 5:37 of the third on Litchfield's second marker of the evening. Petitti answered less than 30 seconds later with his sixth of the season and second of the game off a feed from McGoff to put the Beacons back in front, 6-5, at the end of three.

In the fourth, goals by McGoff at 12:21 and Delpha at 11:47 extended the UMB lead to three at 8-5. Bane's third goal cut the Bison deficit to two (8-6) with 7:45 to go in the fourth, but Delpha's third goal at 3:57 pushed the Beacons lead back to three and essentially sealed the win.  

“UMass Boston is a good team that played hard today,” said Bison head coach Eric Gobiel. “Our guys played hard today as well, but we made some mental mistakes, as well as mistakes on offense and defense that were really the difference in the game. We need to shore up our game plan moving forward. We have to do a better job with possession time on offense, and on defense, we need to watch our cutters better and not ball watch. Hopefully, we can correct that tomorrow and be ready to go Thursday.”

Senior Henry Bristol (South Hadley, Mass.) recorded 15 saves between the pipes to improve to 2-2 on the season for the visitors. Freshman Seth Drouin (Madison, Conn.) made his first collegiate start in net for the Bison and recorded four saves.

UMB junior Ed McDonald (Waltham, Mass.) led all field players with six ground balls while Delpha and junior Dom Fichera (Scituate, Mass.) each caused four turnovers. Sophomore Sean Coates (Grafton, Mass.) collected six GB's to pace Nichols while junior Brian Girard (Norwood, Mass.) caused three turnovers.

The Bison return to action on Thursday evening with a 6 p.m. contest at Anna Maria. The Beacons host Wentworth Thursday at 3 p.m.