DUDLEY, Mass. (4/10/24) – In a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) battle, The Nichols College Men's Lacrosse Program took on the Curry College Colonels in a Wednesday Night match-up on Vendetti Field. The battle was back-and-forth, but the Bison earned the win 9-7.
 
With the win, the Bison jump to 8-5 (3-1 CCC) this season and Curry falls to 3-10 (1-3 CCC) on the year.

Graduate student Blake Covell scored four times to lead all scorers in the game. Graduate student Ryan Warner and sophomore Conor Dorherty each scored a pair of goals in the win. 
 
Opening the game for the Bison was Warner who from about 15 feet out ripped a shot past the Curry starting goalie to set the Bison off 1-0 just minutes into the first quarter. Curry answered back just a very moment later as they beat Bison starter Brady Morgan off a shot that worked through traffic in front of the net. The Colonels then added another to take their first lead of the game up 2-1. That lead stood after 15 minutes of action. 

The second quarter consisted of a lot of back-and-forth action, but the Colonels extended their lead to two with 4:16 in the second. Exactly one minute later Doherty scored a highlight-reel goal as he walked in all alone and fired a shot passed the Curry netminder and cut the lead to one. The goal was Doherty's team-leading 17th of the season. The 3-2 Curry lead would go into halftime.
 
In the second-half action, it was the Bison who struck first as junior Dylan DeRubeis passed it out from behind the net to Covell who made a fantastic fake-move to beat the goalie and tie the goal up at 3-3. On the following a faceoff win from sophomore Travis Arnold, who took the ball the whole way himself, and scored to reinstate the Bison lead 4-3. Despite the Bison's continued pressure, the back-and-forth continued at the Colonels scored to even things back up at 4-4 with 6:45 to play in the 3rd. Warner added his second of the game as it rolled behind the Curry goaltender, a goal that pushed the Bison back ahead by one just before the close of the 3rd quarter. After a timeout just after, the play drawn up by Coach Shayne Lynch was successful as Doherty scored his second of the game in the last seconds of the shot clock off a pass from Joseph Turpin to give the Bison 5-3 lead through 45 minutes.
 
In the fourth quarter, the tension and intensity grew between the two CCC foes. Curry sliced into the Bison lead on a man-up goal at the 12:08 mark. Three minutes later, they tied the game up at 6-6 and the battle continued. The tie didn't last long when sophomore Joey LaChance pulled the ball out high, drawing attention away from the net, allowing  Covell to sneak in behind the defense and take the shot on the doorstep of the crease to go back up 7-6. Covell's scoring streak continued as he faked again off an out-of-bounds retrieval pass from DeRubeis to complete the hat-trick inside four minutes to play. Covell wasn't done there as he scored yet another highlight reel goal as he fell to the ground but beat the goaltender up high for his fourth of the game at the 1:12 mark. Inside one minute Curry added a tally, but it wouldn't be enough as the Bison finished with the 9-7 win.
 
In goal for the Bison, Brady Morgan stood tall to the task yet again making 12 saves in the win. Arnold was 11-19 from the X, and added a goal for the Bison. 
 
The Bison's next game is their last non-conference match of the season. They are set to host Connecticut College this Friday, April 12th at 7 PM on Vendetti Field in Dudley.