Box Score

DUDLEY, Mass. – Senior Macaulay Gillis (Northborough, Mass.) scored his second goal of the season with 41.4 seconds remaining in overtime to cap a four-goal rally and propel the Nichols College men's lacrosse team to an 11-10 win over Salem State in non-conference action Monday night at Vendetti Field.

The Bison – who trailed 10-7 with 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter – reeled off three-straight goals to force overtime before Gillis ended the tilt and helped them climb to within a game of the .500 mark at 2-3. He finished the evening with six points (2-4-6) while sophomore Michael Bane (North Grafton, Mass.) and freshman Chris Litchfield (Burlington, Mass.) each tallied three goals.

Junior A.J. Robertson (Ipswich, Mass.) led the Vikings (4-1) with four goals while freshman Ben Melaugh (Billerica, Mass.) notched five points (3-2-5). Salem State outshot the Bison 43-37 and held a 33-27 edge in ground balls.

After Robertson's four tally of the evening and 14th of the season with 10:13 remaining in the fourth to extend the Vikings lead to 10-7, Gillis hooked up with Bane for his 13th of the season at 8:53 to cut the Bison deficit to two at 10-8. Later, Gillis fed Litchfield for his eighth and ninth goals of the season at 7:56 and 6:29, respectively, to tie the game at 10.

Salem State began the OT session with possession due to a Nichols penalty, and Melaugh nearly ended the contest early on with a shot struck the right post behind freshman goalkeeper Seth Drouin (Madison, Conn.). Later in the session, Nichols forced a turnover and took over possession with a minute and change remaining. Cradling the ball behind the Vikings net, Gillis curled around the left post and fired a shot over the outstretched stick of freshman Dylan Svenson (Billerica, Mass.).

“The team showed a lot of heart and character tonight, and that's the team we've been looking for,” said Nichols head coach Eric Gobiel. “We suffered some tough losses in the opening weeks of the season, but the kids have been working hard in practice and learned a lot. They hung in there tonight and were rewarded with the overtime goal. Our confidence is high right now, but we need to make sure we're not overconfident. We need to carry this momentum into conference play, which starts Wednesday at Roger Williams.

Sophomore Corey Davis (Wakefield, Mass.) opened the scoring 2:56 into the contest to give Nichols a 1-0 lead, but the Vikings scored the next six goals – including two from Melaugh – to stake his team to a 6-1 lead. Bane struck twice before halftime to make it a 6-3 Vikings lead, and after Gillis cut the deficit to two (9-7) late in the third, Robertson scored twice to get Salem State's lead back to four at 9-5.

Junior Brian Girard (Norwood, Mass.) netted his second of the season for the Bison with 21 ticks left on the clock to close the third with his squad down by three, and Litchfield's first of three fourth-quarter goals 56 seconds in made it 9-7.

Drouin recorded 12 saves to record his second collegiate victory while Svenson stopped 11 Bison scoring attempts. Sophomore Ian Abrahamson (Billerica, Mass.) collected a game-high seven ground balls for the Vikings, and junior Liam Sullivan (Mashpee, Mass.) notched a team-leading five for Nichols.

The Bison return to action on Wednesday with a 7 p.m. contest at Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) foe Roger Williams. The Vikings host Mass. Maritime Wednesday at 7 p.m.