SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. – The Nichols College women's ice hockey team fell 8-2 to Saint Michael's in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) action Saturday afternoon at the Douglas Cairns Recreation Arena.
 
The Bison were outshot 37-24 for the game – including 13-2 in the first period. Both teams traded power play goals in the first period with senior Athena Akiki (Allendale, N.J.) opening the scoring at 16:33 for the Purple Knights. Junior Emily Barden (Chatham, N.Y.) evened things back up with a little more than a minute to go in the period after rebounding a shot by sophomore Mikayla Castro (Killingworth, Conn.).
 
Saint Michael's took the lead again at 7:05 of the second period on a goal by sophomore Madison Nichols (Gliford, N.H.). The Bison again answered back close to two minutes later as sophomore Callie Jackson (Vineyard Haven, Mass.) potted her first goal of the year on assists from classmate Castro and freshman Emily Eagan (Hingham, Mass.).
 
The two teams entered the third period knotted up at two and then the Purple Knights exploded for six goals in the final period. All six goals were scored by six different student-athletes, including a second power play goal by Akiki. Freshman Arianna Boscia (Cranston, R.I.) provided a game-high four assists to lead the Purple Knights.
 
Jackson and senior Samantha DiReda (Shrewsbury, Mass.) paced the Bison with four shots each while junior Ashley Dineen (Somers, N.Y.) and senior Erin Dwyer (Weymouth, Mass.) – who scored in the third period – both had a game-high five shots.
 
Sophomore Cassandra Goyette (Norton, Mass.) stopped 27 shots over the first 52:32 of the game before sophomore Lauren Bennett (Chicago, Ill.) made a pair of saves over the final 7:26. Senior Abby Burke (Bedford, Mass.) earned her first win of the year after making 22 saves for the game.
 
All-Time Series
The Purple Knights have now won the last six meetings with the Bison and lead the all-time series at 8-4-1. Bison last won back in the 2013 season.
 
Next Games
Nichols (0-18-1, 0-11-0 NEHC) – Thursday, February 2 at Holy Cross, 7:05 p.m.
Saint Michael's (3-15-0, 3-8-0 NEHC) – Friday, February 3 vs Manhattanville, 7:00 p.m.