DUDLEY, Mass. (4/24/24) - The Nichols College Women's Lacrosse team staged a second-half comeback but came up short against conference opponent Western New England University, falling by a score of 13-9 in their regular season finale on Wednesday afternoon at Vendetti Field.  

With the loss, the Bison drop to 12-5 (3-4 CCC) overall, while the Golden Bears improve to 7-10 (5-2 CCC).  

Sophomore attacker Emma Patton led the charge for the Bison with six points, including five goals and one assist. Junior McKenzie Muir backed up Patton with three goals of her own while also providing a ground ball in the effort. Junior defender Kaleigh Seal was the defensive anchor, causing three turnovers and picking up two ground balls.   

The Golden Bears found the back of the net twice in the first two minutes to open the game with a 2-0 lead. Muir responded shortly thereafter by splitting the Golden Bears' defense and wiring a shot past the Western New England goalkeeper, minimizing the lead to 2-1. The Golden Bears retaliated with a lengthy seven-goal run to close out the half with a commanding 9-1 lead. 

The scoring run continued with another goal at the beginning of the third frame to further the lead to 10-1. Patton eventually halted the run by scoring back-to-back free-position goals across a 90-second span, only to be followed up by a Muir man-up goal to pull the score within six. The teams traded goals at the end of the frame to make it an 11-5 game heading into the fourth quarter. 

Muir added her third and final goal of the game with 14 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to shorten the Golden Bear lead to 11-6. Freshman attacker Gabriella Mandirola slotted home her twelfth goal of the season before back-to-back goals from WNE increased the difference to 13-7 with eight minutes left to play. Patton scored the final two goals of the game, but it was not enough as the Bison fell by a final score of 13-9. 

Sophomore goalkeeper Briar Slattery recorded 12 saves in the outing, tying her season high. 

Nichols locks up the fifth seed in the upcoming Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament, and will head north to face fourth-seeded University of New England this Saturday, April 27th with a game time yet to be announced.