WENHAM, Mass. – The Nichols College women's lacrosse team fell to Gordon College, 16-11, on Saturday afternoon in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) matchup in Wenham, Mass.
 
The Bison drop to 1-2 on the season and 0-1 in the CCC, while Gordon improves to 3-5 and 1-0 in league games. Nichols returns to action on Tuesday night for their home opener against Wentworth at 4:00 p.m.
 
Junior Kirsten Sullivan led the Bison with three goals and three assists, while senior Mellissa LaFleur added three goals and an assist. Sophomore Danielle Kozloski chipped in a goal and an assist, while freshman Lizz McKinnon, senior Allison Bench, senior Lindsay O'Connell, and sophomore Miranda Smith each netted a goal.
 
Defensively, LaFleur, Smith, and sophomore Emily Eagan grabbed two groundballs apiece, while LaFleur also recorded five draw controls. O'Connell scooped up six draw controls of her own.
 
Emily Eagan suffered the setback despite making 17 saves.
 
Gordon was led by junior Olivia McCarrick's five goals and four assists. Freshman Katelyn Dyer added six goals and two assists, with junior Hannah Bourk and freshman Greta Moore each recording two goals and an assist. Freshman Kaitlyn Ober backstopped the Fighting Scots, making five saves in the win.
 
Gordon took a 2-0 lead to start the game before Kozloski found the back of the net to make it a 2-1 game with 23:24 to play in the first half. Dyer answered for the Fighting Scots to put Gordon back in front 3-1, but the Bison responded with three-straight goals from LaFleur, Smith, and Sullivan to take their first lead of the contest, 4-3.
 
The Fighting Scots scored two goals to jump back on top, 5-4, before O'Connell and Sullivan gave the Bison the lead back at 6-5 with 8:11 remaining. Gordon would tie the game at 6-6 with 2:55 to play, and Sullivan would score the final goal of the half only 22 seconds later to give Nichols a 7-6 lead at the break.
 
Gordon opened the second half on a 4-1 run to jump on top 10-8 with 18:14 to play in the half. McKinnon and LaFleur sandwiched tallies around a goal from Gordon's Dyer to make it an 11-10 deficit with 16:10 remaining.
 
The Fighting Scots rattled off three-straight goals over the next three minutes of action to take a 14-10 lead and 13:11 to play. Allison Bench ended the run with a tally, but Gordon would score the final two goals of the contest to take the 16-11 victory.
 
Gordon held a 41-24 advantage in shots in the game, while grabbing a 21-13 edge in groundballs. The Bison grabbed 16 draw controls to 13 for the Fighting Scots, but committed 30 turnovers to just 17 for the home team.
 
All-Time Series
Saturday marked the 17th meeting between the two teams, and Gordon leads the all-time series, 16-1.