WELLESLEY, Mass. (3/20/24) – A late goal by sophomore midfielder Makala Dube lifted the Nichols College women's lacrosse program to a come-from-behind 11-10 victory at Wellesley College on Wednesday evening at Butler Stadium.

Nichols' season remains unblemished at 8-0 following the win, while Wellesley drops to 2-5 (0-1 NEWMAC).

The Bison earned the win after scoring twice in the final minute of the game, which included Dube's winner with just nine seconds left. Junior Hadley Houghton led the offensive effort with five goals and two assists, while five other Bison found their way on the score sheet. Dube was next in line with a pair of goals, while junior McKenzie Muir contributed a match-high six draw controls and four ground balls.

After Wellesley opened the scoring at the 12:30 mark of the first quarter, sophomore Emma Patton scored her 19th goal of the season at 10:33 to tie the score. The Blue would retake the lead just 50 seconds later, but Nichols returned fire a second time with two consecutive goals from Houghton and sophomore Caitlin Welch, resulting in a 3-2 Bison lead after one.  

With the Bison a player up, Dube made it a three-goal game with her first of the evening at 11:27, unassisted. Then, less than a minute later, freshman Emily Newton tossed in her second of the season to make it 4-2 Bison, also unassisted. However, in addition to scoring twice before the end of the half, Wellesley would embark on a six-goal run which stretched all the way to the 3:46 mark of the third quarter, putting Nichols behind 8-5.

Nichols refused to go down easily as Houghton added their first goal of the half (player-up) with 2:46 to go in the third, before scoring a second goal to open the fourth frame off an assist from Muir to make it 8-7. After providing the helper on the second Houghton goal, Muir then fired home the equalizer at 12:42 to bring the Bison and the Blue to an 8-8 standoff.

Despite gaining a 10-9 advantage with under five minutes to play, the Bison rallied behind the last-minute heroics of Houghton and Dube to earn the 11-10 comeback win.

Recent CCC Defensive Player of the Week honoree Briar Slattery picked up the win in goal for Nichols (7-0), making four saves with four ground balls. 

Women's lacrosse is back in action on Monday, March 25th against Emerson College (3-2, 0-1 NEWMAC), with action slated to begin at 6:00 PM at Rotch Field.