DUDLEY, Mass. – Nichols men's lacrosse opened up its season with a 14-11 win in non-conference play over Emerson on Saturday afternoon at Vendetti Field. With the victory, the Bison gave Shayne Lynch his first victory as a collegiate head coach.
 
Nichols got on the board early and often, cashing in three goals in the first 6:11, as sophomore Jack Ellis scored on a feed from junior Colby Gillis to break the scoring open before graduate Hunter Ferreira notched two unassisted goals.
 
Emerson would outscore the Bison, 4-1, over the final 7:03 of the first to trail by a score of 5-4 at the first break.
 
Bejson Offit would tie the game at 5-all just 1:41 into the second quarter on a feed from Kiniry. Nichols' offense would explode for four-unanswered goals over the final 8:32 of the half to pull ahead 9-5 at the half. Ellis notched his second and third goals over that scoring span for the Bison.
 
Out of the halftime intermission, Emerson would pour on four goals to the lone Bison score to cut the Nichols lead to just one with just 15 minutes to play.
 
The Lions tied the game yet again on Offit's second goal of the game with 13:36 to play to make it 10-10. Graduate attacker Cian Keohane responded with his first goal of the season just 28 seconds later to regain the Bison lead.
 
Desperate to take its first lead of the game, Emerson's Jack Burns notched another game-tying goal with 10:19 to play. That would be as close as the visitors would get, as Keohane would score the eventual game-winner with 7:06 to play. Ferreira and senior Blake Covell each scored down the final 4:36 to put the game on ice and give Nichols a 1-0 record and avenge last season's loss to the Lions in the opener.
 
Ferreira and Ellis each recorded hat tricks in the victory followed by Keohane's two-goal performance. Sophomore CJ Cadigan led the team in points, scoring a goal and handing out four assists.
 
Freshman face-off specialist Travis Arnold won 13-of-24 faceoffs and scooped five ground balls in the victory.
 
Five Bison caused a turnover, as Emerson committed 19 total turnovers.
 
Sophomore Brady Morgan notched 13 saves on 24 shots to earn his first win of the season.
 
Nichols will continue its campaign on the road, facing off in a mid-week non-conference contest with UMass Boston on Wednesday, February 22 at James Cotter Field.