Box Score

DUDLEY, Mass. – Freshman Chris Litchfield (Burlington, Mass.) scored three goals in Nichols College's 10-6 loss to the University of New England in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon at Vendetti Field.

Junior Brian Girard (Norwood, Mass.) added a goal and an assist for the Bison, who slipped to 3-7 (0-4 CCC) on the season. Junior Nick Gross (Kennebunk, Maine) scored two goals for the Nor'easters (8-3, 2-1 CCC) while classmate Dan O'Gorman (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) dished out a pair of assists.

Litchfield opened the scoring with his 16th of the season 2:24 into the contest to give the Bison a 1-0 lead. UNE closed the first quarter with three-straight goals – including a down goal by sophomore Geoff Bruno (Durham, Conn.) – as the visitors grabbed a 3-1 lead. After UNE struck again early in the second to make it 4-1, goals by Litchfield at 9:04 and senior Marc Miller (Trumbull, Conn.) at 5:36 cut the Bison deficit to 4-3 entering halftime. UNE held a 21-17 edge in shots through two quarters.

In the decisive third quarter, freshman Sam Cloutier (Lewiston, Maine) and Gross scored at 9:32 and 7:23, respectively, to extend the Nor'easters lead to 6-3. After Litchfield's third marker of the afternoon at 11:37 of the fourth brought Nichols to within two at 6-4, UNE answered with four-straight goals to go ahead by six at 10-4 with 2:51 remaining. Junior Pat Wolfe (Phippsburg, Maine) scored a down goal during the run. Girard and freshman Anthony Verville (Portland, Maine) potted goals for the Bison at 1:55 and 43 seconds of the fourth, respectively, to close the scoring.

“We tripped up a little bit in the third quarter,” said Bison head coach Eric Gobiel. “We needed to have a greater sense of urgency at the start of the quarter. They scored a few goals off some bad turnovers, and they also scored two man-down goals in the game, which was the difference. We need to make some small corrections and prevent mental mistakes, and we'll be right there.”

Nichols was outshot 42-38 on the afternoon and struggled to clear the ball, succeeding on 14-of-23 opportunities (60.9 pct.). Freshman Seth Drouin (Madison, Conn.) recorded 18 saves in goal for the Bison while senior Jay Letendre (Southington, Conn.) was credited with eight saves. Defensively, Girard led all NC field players with five ground balls while Drouin collected a team-high eight. O'Gorman led all student-athletes with nine.

The Bison return to action on Wednesday with a CCC contest at Salve Regina at 7 p.m. The Nor'easters head to Gordon on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. contest.