WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Nichols men's hockey team dropped a 6-4 road decision to Western New England in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play on Friday night at the Olympia Ice Center. The Bison fall just below .500 with the setback, dropping to 4-5-0 (2-5-0 CCC) on the season.
 
Nichols struck first when Dylan McMahon buried a rebound on a Taber Gutschick shot with 15:11 to play in the first. Just 2:25 later, the Golden Bears tied the game at 1-1 when Peter Izzo found the back of the net.
 
On the first of two Bison powerplays, Kaiden Scott found Josh Dickson for a one-timer in the left faceoff circle, blasting the puck past Colten Lancaster to put Nichols back on top, 2-1.
 
Western New England's Sam Mitchell sent both teams to the locker rooms knotted up at 2-2 following a goal at 18:31 of the opening period.
 
In the early going of the second, Luke Harvie collected a pass from Gabe Temple on a zone entry, and Harvie snuck it past Lancaster to regain a Bison lead. The hosts would pack on a pair of goals to take their first lead of the game with 1:27 to play in the second. Temple tied things up at 4-4 when he fired a backhander past Lancaster.
 
Matt Dougherty scored just 6:29 into the third before Kyle Knight netted an insurance goal, both on the powerplay for Western New England, as the Golden Bears skated away with a 6-4 victory.
 
Tyler Bost made 30 saves in the setback for Nichols.
 
The Bison and Golden Bears will square off for the second time this weekend on Saturday evening at Levy Rink with puck drop set for 4:40 p.m.