HARRISVILLE, R.I. – The Nichols College women's ice hockey team dropped its conference-opener to New England College 3-1 in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) action Friday evening at Levy Rink.
 
The Pilgrims outshot the Bison 47-18 for the game including 23-4 in the final period. The story of the game though was perhaps the penalties as the two teams combined for 27 penalties for 87 minutes and three ejections.
 
Freshman Jill Hannigan (Portland, Maine) potted the first goal of her collegiate career with just one minute remaining in the second period while classmate Emily Eagan (Hingham, Mass.) provided the helper.
 
Senior Rachel Vigliano (Monroe, N.J.) had her hand in each of the goals for NEC – providing a power play goal, shorthanded goal, and an assist for the game.
 
After a scoreless first period, the Pilgrims opened the scoring 9:19 into the second period when Vigliano rifled a shot through traffic from the point that found its way into the top right corner of the net. Senior Megan Servaes (Houston, Texas) assisted on the goal.
 
With 6:58 remaining in the period and the Bison on the power play, Eagan brought the puck behind her own net and Vigliano snuck in with the steal. She then skated through a pair of Bison in the front of the net and wristed a shot past junior goaltender Lindsay O'Connell (Danvers, Mass.).
 
The Bison cut the deficit in half at 19:00 of the second period with Hannigan capitalizing on the Bison power play.
 
Sophomore Maisie Tatum-Borich (Newport Beach, Calif.) scored her first goal of the season to cap off the scoring at 3:37 of the third period. Vigliano and Servaes received credit for the helpers on the goal.
 
Senior Samantha DiReda (Shrewsbury, Mass.) paced the Bison with five shots on the game while Eagan, sophomore Kelly Ferreira (North Falmouth ,Mass.) and senior Kelly Downey (Waltham, Mass.) added two shots. Vigliano had a game-high 11 shots for the Pilgrims.
 
O'Connell made 44 saves in the loss while sophomore Ashley Castriotta (Framingham, Mass.) had 17 stops in the win.
 
All-Time Series
The Bison had won three of the last four meetings with the Pilgrims leading into this game  with the Pilgrims winning last year in November by the same score. NEC leads the all-time series at 10-3-0.
 
Quotes
"I was very happy to the way our Pink at the Rink event went. Huge props to Emily Barden as well as Kara Donati who did a bulk of a work. They wanted to do something and they did it and that dedication speaks volumes to their character." – Nichols College head coach Wil Brown on the Bison hosting their inaugural Pink at the Rink
"We are still learning and taking our lumps. Today you saw some great flashes and some not so great flashes. We are still prominently underclassmen and a lot of our immaturity showed in the third period and throughout the game, but when we were going I felt like we were strong – and when we weren't, I didn't think we were very good." – Brown on the game as a whole
 
"Jill (Hannigan) has improved a lot over these first three games. We knew she would be a scoring-threat when she was out on the ice but it is just making sure she gets herself in the position that she needs to be in. The fact that she got her first goal out of the way in the third game of the season bodes well for the future. Emily (Eagan) and Marg (Ready) as well as Kate (O'Shea) all had strong evenings tonight as well. We are happy with the development of our young players." – Brown on Hannigan scoring her first goal as well as the play of the young roster
 
Next Games
Nichols (0-3-0, 0-1-0 NEHC) – Saturday, November 5 at St. Anselm, 3:00 p.m.
New England College (1-1-0, 1-0-0 NEHC) – Saturday, November 5 vs Plymouth St., 4:00 p.m.