DUDLEY, Mass. – The Nichols College women's soccer team earned their first Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) win of the season with a 3-0 shutout of Eastern Nazarene College on Saturday morning at the Nichols Soccer Field in Dudley, Mass.
The Bison scored three goals in the second half to support junior
Brooke Downey's (Middleboro, Mass.) shutout bid as she made eight saves in her fourth win of the season.
Sophomore
Nicole Gidley (Dartmouth, Mass.) headed home the game-winning goal in the 65th minute of action off a corner kick from classmate
Kaylin Goncalves (Norwood, Mass.) to put the Bison in front 1-0.
Seniors
Danielle Barry (Springfield, Mass.) and
Taylor Souza (New Bedford, Mass.) added insurance goals only 21 seconds apart in the 76th minute. Souza set up Barry with a give-and-go pass that led to Barry's third goal of the season before Souza took a through pass from senior
Lauren MacGray (Norton, Mass.) and potted the ball in the net for the 3-0 advantage.
Nichols held a slight 17-15 edge in shots in the game while also holding a 7-3 advantage in corner kicks.
Eastern Nazarene freshman Sam Bernardi (Longmeadow, Mass.) paced the Lions with four shots in the game, while Kyndall Fry (Tampa, Fla.) added three shots of her own. Senior Kyera Bryant (Guilford, Conn.) suffered the setback, making nine saves in the game.
All-Time Series
Saturday's game was the 20th meeting between the two programs and the Bison hold a 14-5-1 mark against the Lions in the series. Nichols has won the last two matchups.
Quotes
"After a first half where things weren't exactly clicking for us, it was great to see our team respond and put a terrific second half together. There was a big change in our team's intensity and combination play going forward. Finishing three great opportunities on goal is a timely confidence builder." – Head coach
Karen Gurnon
Next Match
Nichols (4-5-1, 1-1-1 CCC) – Saturday, Oct. 7 at Western New Eng., 2:30 p.m.
Eastern Nazarene (5-5-0, 0-3-0 CCC) – Wednesday, Oct. 4 vs. UMass Dartmouth, 7:30 p.m.
