DUDLEY, Mass. – Junior Taylor Souza (New Bedford, Mass.) scored her third goal of the season as the Nichols College women's soccer team finished tied with Rivier University 1-1 in non-conference action Wednesday evening at Vendetti Field.
 
The Bison outshot their opponent for the first time this season (15-14), however, the Raiders held the edge in shots on goal, 10-7. Nichols was called offsides six times in the game.
 
Souza opened up the scoring at 15:23 when she broke down the right side before cutting through the middle and beating junior goaltender Lauren Goodspeed (Merrimack, N.H.) to give the Bison their first lead of the young season.
 
That lead was short-lived, however, as at 21:44 senior Hayley Barnard (Bedford, N.H.) scored her first goal of the season off a free kick that she kicked into the upper 90.
 
The Bison outshot the Raiders 8-6 over the course of the second half but were held without a shot throughout both overtimes while Rivier saw four opportunities.
 
Sophomore Brooke Downey (Middleboro, Mass.) made nine saves in the tie – giving her 75 on the year, which is 33 more than the next goaltender in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC). Goodspeed stopped six shots on the night.
 
Souza led the Bison with four shots while classmate Ashley Cibotti (Norton, Mass.) had three shots. Senior Maggie Cohoon (Derry, N.H.) produced a game-high five shots (four on goal) while Barnard had four shots on the game for the Raiders.
 
All-Time Series
The Bison and the Raiders have now played to ties in back-to-back seasons with last year's game at Rivier finished scoreless through 2OT. The Bison lead the all-time series at 1-0-2.
 
Quotes
"I think we started off the game with a bang and obviously 'T' hit a shot in and beat three defenders for the goal, so it looked like we had the momentum. They countered obviously and I think we let that get into our head. We had opportunity after opportunity after that but couldn't put it away. We were looking for the win today but we will just need someone to step up." - Nichols head coach Sonia Basma

"I think Taylor has been great for us. She is a very impactful player, not just on the scoreboard, but she provides that energy we need up top." - Basma on Taylor Souza

"Brooke has been phenomenal for us. There have been games where she has saved us and today was one of those days. I have been very happy with her play." - Basma on the play of Downey this season

Next Games
Nichols (0-6-1) – Saturday, September 24 vs Curry, 2:30 p.m.
Rivier (1-3-2) – Sunday, September 25 @ St. Joseph (Conn.), 1:00 p.m.