Box Score

DUDLEY, Mass.  – Sophomores Erica Antonison (Albertson, N.Y.), Grace Murphy (Montclair, Va.) and Sam MacMillan (Bridgewater, Mass.) each recorded a hat-trick as the Nichols College women's lacrosse was upended by visiting University of New England, 16-12, in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) contest on Saturday afternoon at Michael J. Vendetti Field.
 
Antonison also pitched in with a helper while first-year Alexa Smith (Salem, N.H.) scored a pair of goals and sophomore Alyssa Bufis (Linden, N.J.) chipped in with one. Murphy led the Bison with six ground balls, four draw controls and six caused turnovers. Bufis and Antonison each contributed with four ground balls apiece to go along with a trio of caused turnovers by sophomore Talia Hohmann (Marina, Calif.).
 
Junior Hannah Tavella (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) paced the Nor'easters with five goals and an assist. Sophomore Gina Newsome (Danbury, Conn.) and classmate Nikki Smith (Shapleigh, Maine) each recorded a natural hat-trick and combined for seven goals and two helpers. Four other University of New England student-athletes found the back of the net on the day. First-year Courtney Kendall (Waltham, Mass.) and junior Johanna Currier (Holderness, N.H.) each corralled four ground balls while sophomore Jessica Deedon (Sherman, Conn.) and senior Nicolle Steel (Ocean City, N.J.) scooped up a quartet of draw controls for the visitors.
 
Currier put the Nor'easters on top 1-0 courtesy of a free position goal less than five minutes into the contest. Less than two minutes later, Murphy sparked a 5-0 Bison run off a feed from Antonison. With 6:40 showing on the scoreboard sophomore Hannah Warren (Harrison, Maine) began a University of New England scoring spree that included Smith's hat-trick as the Nor'easters held a 6-5 advantage at the break.
 
Murphy and MacMillan helped the Bison take a 7-6 lead shortly after the intermission before Tavella knotted the game at 7-7 with 25:52 remaining in the second half. Antonison and Newsome then traded goals as the game became an 8-8 stalemate. Senior Emily Lodge (Lyman, Maine) snapped the tie with a pass from sophomore Rachel Schwaner (Holderness, N.H.) with just over 20 minutes left in the frame. University of New England went on to score six more times for an 8-0 run capped by Newsome's natural hat-trick. The Bison rallied with four goals over a span of 2:08 late in the contest. Tavella closed the game out with her 36th goal of the season with 28 ticks remaining the game.
 
Kendall improved to 4-6 as she collected 12 saves for the Nor'easters. First-year backstop AnneMarie Fana (Lawrence, Mass.) stopped six shots and fell to 2-8 on the year.
 
Nichols (3-8, 1-3 CCC) hits the road for a 4:30 p.m. CCC matchup at Salve Regina on Wednesday. University of New England (4-6, 2-1 CCC) is also in conference action on Wednesday as they visit Gordon at 4:00 p.m.