DUDLEY, Mass. (3/25/24) – The Nichols College Men's Lacrosse Team triumphed over the visiting Vermont State University Castleton Spartans in a non-conference game on Vendetti Field Monday afternoon. The Bison proved dominant coming out with the 18-6 win.

With the win, the Bison jumped to 5-3 (0-0 CCC) on the season. The Spartans fall to 1-6 on the year. The game marked the first all-time meeting between the two programs.

In the first quarter, the Bison came out blazing, outshooting their opponents 12-5. The hometown Bison also outscored the Spartans 4-0. The opening goal came off the stick of Conor Doherty just 45 seconds into the contest. That started the hot streak for the Bison as Joey LaChance would score two goals and CJ Cadigan would add one of his own before the close of the first frame.

In the second, it was VTSU Castleton who got on the board first as Carter Frankenhoff riffled a shoot past the Bison starting goaltender and raining CCC Defensive Player of the Week Brady Morgan. That momentum wouldn't last long as Colby Gillis scored his first of the game for the Bison less than two minutes later to extend the lead back to 4. With a minute to go until halftime, CJ Cadigan scored his second of the game off a pass from a falling Dylan DeRubeis. DeRubeis, the raining Offensive CCC Player of the Week then pushed his point count to two when he scored with 13 seconds to play in the half. The Bison would sit with a 7-1 lead at halftime.

The third quarter proved dominant for the Bison as they scored early and often to push the lead to 12 through the 15 minutes. The goals came from Conor Doherty, who scored two straight to open the frame before the DeRubeis added his second of the game. Also adding tallies for the Bison were CJ Cadigan with his third and fourth of the game, Travis Arnold, and Joseph Turpin who scored his first career goal to close out the frame. The Bison led 14-2 through 45 minutes of play.

The fourth quarter continued the Bison wave continued as Tyler Ciufo scored just over a minute in off a feed from Shea Ullo. The Spartans then scored two goals in response before Jack Ellis sniped a man-up goal for the Bison to regain the momentum. Inside three minutes to play, freshman Shea Ullo scored 2 unassisted tallies less than a minute apart to close out the game for the Bison.

In the assist category for the Bison, Colby Gillis led the way with five. Face-off specialist Travis Arnold went 15 for 17 at the X.

In net for the Bison, junior Brady Morgan made his eighth straight start of the year. He made 8 saves on 10 shots to earn the win and move to 5-3 on the year. Senior netminder Billy Heller came in to relieve Morgan with four minutes to play in the third quarter, he was perfect making 2 saves on 2 shots. He was then relieved by freshman Cody Pettola who saw his first minutes of collegiate action. Freshman Spencer Sherman then finished out the game in goal for the Bison.

Men's Lacrosse now turns to Commonwealth Coast Conference play as they open the CCC schedule against Gordon College on Wednesday, March 27th. The Bison will play hosts in that game that is slated for 7 PM on Vendetti Field.