BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. – Behind another stellar offensive performance from Hadley Houghton, the Nichols women's lacrosse team held off Mass. Maritime from completing a comeback bid to earn an 11-8 road win on Tuesday night at Clean Harbors Stadium. The Bison remain perfect and continue the team's best start with a 5-0 record, while the Buccaneers dropped to 2-4 overall.
 
The Bison took a 6-3 lead into the halftime break thanks to five unassisted goals coming off the stick of Houghton. The secondary goal scoring in the first 30 minutes came from Emma Patton, who also added an unassisted tally with 7:08 remaining in the second quarter to make it 5-2 at the time.
 
Coming out of the break, Nichols added five-straight goals to balloon its lead to 11-3 with 2:48 to play in the third quarter. Houghton added two goals over that stretch to finish with seven on the outing. Mackenzie Doran scored two goals and assisted on Paige Alexander's strike, as both the graduate student and the sophomore would get on the scoresheet in the third and round out the scoring for the Bison.
 
After Allie Dickinson scored for the Buccaneers with two minutes left in the third, Mass. Maritime turned up the heat the fourth quarter, finding the back of the net four times to threaten, but it would prove to be too-little too-late as the Bison came away with the three-goal victory.
 
Houghton finished with seven goals on nine shots on target, finishing all five of her free position opportunities. Additionally, the sophomore controlled nine draws, grabbed four ground balls, and caused four turnovers for the Bison. Doran's two-goal, two-assist night was good for second in points in the contest, followed by Patton, Alexander, and Sam Ahaesy all finishing with one point.
 
McKenzie Muir helped in the draw control category with five while also securing three ground balls. Erin Anthony and Elizabeth Luster each caused two turnovers and scooped one ground ball in the victory.
 
In net, Keri Tremblay earned the win, making eight saves in between the pipes.
 
Next up, the Bison will head back to Vendetti Field for a Monday, March 27 matchup with Dean at 4:00 p.m.