WESTFIELD, Mass. – Senior
Grace Murphy (Montclair, Va.) potted four goals as the Nichols College women's lacrosse team fell 12-9 to Westfield State in non-conference action at Alumni Field.
For the second consecutive game, Westfield State (1-4) senior midfielder Meg Griffin (Granby, Conn.) scored seven goals to lead the way for the Owls.
Griffin got the Owls off to a fast start, winning the opening draw and going straight to goal for the first marker of the game just 13 seconds in. Griffin picked up a loose ball off the ensuing draw and tallied again to give Westfield a 2-0 lead 1:11 into the contest.
Westfield scored six straight goals in the first eight minutes to open the game.
Nichols (1-3) responded by scoring four of the next five goals, including three by Murphy to cut Westfield's lead to 7-4 at the half. Senior
Alyssa Bufis (Linden, N.J.) scored the first goal of the second half for Nichols to cut the lead to 7-5.
Griffin and senior Stephanie Lenhardt (Duxbury, Mass.) scored back-to-back goals in a 36-second span for Westfield to break the Bison's momentum and take a 9-5 lead with 23:01 left in the contest.
The Bison re-rallied with a three-goal run, sandwiching a sophomore
Brooke Marion (South Hadley, Mass.) goal between a pair of tallies from Bufis to cut the Owls' lead to 9-8 with 17:51 left in the game.
Griffin then put the game away for Westfield, scoring three straight goals in a five minute stretch to boost the lead back to 12-8 with 10:05 left in the game.
Murphy tallied her fourth goal of the game for Nichols with 6:36 left to cut the final margin to 12-9.
The Bison were outshot by the Owls 30-24 for the game. Sophomore
Katherine Cotton (Kennebunk, Maine) took the loss and falls to 1-3 after stopping 12 shots. Junior Mimi Khampaeng (Hampden, Mass.) earned the win after making 11 saves.
The Bison open up conference-play on Wednesday when they play host to Western New England at 4:00 p.m. The Owls play at Lasell on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
Contributions from Westfield State Sports Information
