CCC Bracket

BRISTOL, R.I. – The fifth-seeded Nichols men's lacrosse team went into Bayside Field and came away with a gritty 6-4 victory over No. 4 Roger Williams on Saturday afternoon in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Quarterfinals. Jack Ellis scored what proved to be the game-winning goal with 11:52 remaining in regulation. With the victory, Nichols now sits at 11-7 while the Hawk's campaign (9-7) comes to a close.
 
Cian Keohane scored the first two goals of the campaign, with the first in the closing minutes of the opening quarter. The graduate attacker struck again, this time on an extra-man opportunity, 2:41 into the second quarter on a feed from Ellis. Noah Ravas finally put the Hawks on the board, scoring with just three seconds left in the half to make it 2-1 at the break.
 
Coming out of the half, Hunter Ferreira buried a feed from Ryan Warner to double the Bison lead. Under a minute later, Matt Halpin got on the scoresheet with an unassisted goal with 12:27 on the clock. Halpin would score once more with just under 10 minutes later to tie the contest up at 3-all. Keohane would help Nichols retake the lead on a man-up strike with 1:43 to play in the third, completing his hat trick.
 
In the final period of regulation, Ellis found the back of the net on a Dylan DeRubeis assist to put the Bison up by a pair at 5-3. Kevin Murphy would record his second point of the contest on a goal that cut the Hawks' deficit to just one. Ferreira finally put the game on ice for the Bison with an unassisted tally with 2:48 remaining after Michael Zampine caused a Roger Williams turnover to set up the opportunity. The Bison stayed strong over the final stretch, first winning the draw and then forcing a James Dearborn turnover to close out the game and send the team to its second CCC Semifinals berth in as many seasons.
 
Faceoff specialist Travis Arnold won seven of the 13 total faceoffs to help set up the team's offense. Ellis (1-2-3) and Keohane (3-0-3) each led the team with three points apiece, while Ferreira (2-0-2), Warner (0-1-1), and DeRubeis (0-1-1) rounded out the scoring efforts. Ferreira, Kyle Ettenhofer, Sam Reisman, and Nick Gualtieri each caused two turnovers, while Ettenhoffer's six ground balls paced the team.
 
 
Goalkeeper Brady Morgan made seven saves on 11 shots faced in the contest to help lock down the defensive side of the field.
 
Nichols outshot the Hawks, 39-33, pouring 16 shots on goal in the victory. The Bison cleared out of their side of the field efficiently, going 15-for-16 in that respect.
 
The Bison, under the direction of first-year head coach Shayne Lynch, will get another crack at Endicott, who earned the No. 1 seed in the CCC Tournament. That game will be played on Wednesday at Hempstead Stadium at 4:00 p.m.