BURRILLVILLE, R.I. (11/7/2025) – The Nichols College women's ice hockey team came up just short Friday afternoon, falling 3-2 to Johnson & Wales University at the Levy Rink in their first Conference of New England game. In today's game, the women's ice hockey program hosted their Face Off Against Cancer game, partnering with the Don Litzelman Foundation to recognize the fight against cancer. Marc Creegan, an Adjunct Professor at Nichols College and a die-hard fan of the Nichols College Women's Ice Hockey program, dropped the ceremonial first puck for the game.
 
Nichols was handed their first loss of the season, moving to 2-1-0 (0-1-0 CNE) while Johnson & Wales University earns their first win and now sits at 1-1-0 (1-0-0 CNE).
 
The first period of the game saw a handful of penalties being given to both teams, resulting in nine penalties in total for 18 minutes. The Bison opened the scoring midway through the first period when junior defense Rhea Bullens buried a power-play goal at 11:21, assisted by Isabelle Brennan and Riley Devlin. Nichols' early advantage was short-lived, as the Wildcats' Jordan Hopping responded at 16:40 with the help of Allyson Barry and Brynn Leahy to even the game at 1-1. The score remained the same going into the first intermission. Bullens led the Bison in shots on goal in the period with three.
 
After battling for most of the second period, Johnson & Wales took the lead at 17:26 with Hopping netting her second of the game off a feed from Ashley Bergeron, making it 2-1 going into the final period. Nichols' goaltender Paige Almon recorded 11 saves in the period, marking her highest save total out of the three periods tonight.
 
The Wildcats came into the third period ready to strike, extending their lead early in the third when Kylie O'Keefe scored the eventual game-winner at 1:50. O'Keefe's goal was assisted by Ava Morgan and Giovanna Gulinello. Nichols converted again on the power play at 4:29, when Devlin found the back of the net from Keira Goffe and Kerstin Ambruso, cutting the deficit to one. Despite the offensive pressure, including 16 third-period shots, the Bison couldn't find the equalizer. The game ended 3-2 in favor of the Wildcats.
 
Nichols outshot the Wildcats 29-28 and went 2-for-6 on the power play while killing off all six JWU power plays in the contest. Junior goaltender Paige Almon turned aside 25 of 28 shots.
 
Nichols heads to Providence, Rhode Island tomorrow, November 8th, to face Johnson & Wales University at their home rink for their second Conference of New England game. Puck drop is set for 3:00 PM.