LEICESTER, Mass. – The Nichols College women's lacrosse team opened its 2017 season with a 19-2 win over Becker College in non-conference action Wednesday afternoon.
 
The Bison outshot the Hawks 30-8 – including 22-3 in shots on goal. The 14-first half goals were the most for the program in a half since April of 2014 against Wentworth when they had 15.
 
Senior Brooke Marion (South Hadley, Mass.) scored a game-high four goals to go with a pair of assists and passed 100 career points (104). Sophomore Kirsten Sullivan (Arlington, Mass.) added a four-point effort (3-1-4).
 
Nine other student-athletes scored goals for the Bison with three potting a pair of goals – senior Reilly Flaherty (Bellingham, Mass.) and juniors Lindsay O'Connell (Danvers, Mass.) and Allison Bench (Windham, N.H.).
 
The Hawks received a goal in each half with junior Meghan Bealka (Freetown, Mass.) scoring in the first half and freshman Cassandra Nelson (Exeter, N.H.) scoring her first-collegiate goal in the second half.
 
 Nichols scored 12-unanswered goals to start the game before Becker was able to get on the board with just south of seven minutes to go in the first half. Flaherty and Marion provided game-highs in shots with five while Bealka and Nelson paced the Hawks with three shots each.
 
Freshman Emily Eagan (Hingham, Mass.) earned the win in her first-collegiate game before giving way to senior Katherine Cotton (Kennebunk, Maine). Junior Jacqueline Hogue (North Grafton, Mass.) played 12:01 in the second half and freshman Molly Steen (Stevensville, Md.) played the final 1:37 and registered the only save of the game for Nichols.
 
The Hawks goaltenders switched halves with sophomore Nikolle Storey (Cumberland, Maine) making one save and taking the loss. Freshman Emily Loud (Wilmington, Mass.) closed out the game with two saves.
 
All-Time Series
This marked the first meeting between the Bison and the Hawks with the Bison now owning the all-time series at 1-0.
 
Next Games
Nichols (1-0) – Tuesday, March 7 at Fitchburg State, 4:00 p.m.
Becker (0-1) – Saturday, March 4 vs Dean, 1:00 p.m.