DUDLEY, Mass. (3/26/2025) – In their first conference test of the season, the Nichols women's lacrosse team defeated Wentworth Institute of Technology, 17-8 on Wednesday evening, extending their season-opening win streak to seven straight games.

With the win, the Bison now stand at 7-0 (1-0 CNE) on the season, while Wentworth drops to 4-4 (0-1 CNE) with the loss.

Hadley Houghton returned to her scoring ways Wednesday, leading all players with six goals and one assist. Houghton was tied at the draw with McKenzie Muir, with the two players each nabbing six draw controls, with Muir also pacing the defensive effort with five caused turnovers, and five ground balls. Sienna Reeves and Kristen Ruby each contributed two goals to the scoring effort.

Briar Slattery (7-0) earned the win in net, stopping four-of-five shots faced. Kaleigh Seal entered for the second half of the game, making seven saves through 30 minutes of relief work. 

The Bison took control of the game early on with a 6-1 lead through the first quarter, scoring four of their goals on free position shots and one a man-up. Makala Dube opened the scoring less than 1:30 into the contest, which was then followed by two straight goals from Houghton to make it 3-0 Bison. Emma Patton and Paige Alexander then made it a 5-0 score with strikes at the 7:13 and 6:23 marks, respectively, before Houghton rounded out the half with her third goal of the day at 00:23.

After a quiet start to the second quarter, Nichols broke the silence with another free position goal, this time from Muir, to go ahead 7-1. The teams traded goals over the next several minutes, but it would be Nichols potting the final goal of the half with 1:35 left, once again on a free position shot by Houghton.  

Nichols kicked off the third quarter with back-to-back goals by Ruby and Houghton, before Reeves added her second goal of the contest to hold a 13-4 lead. Wentworth was able to trim the deficit slightly, outscoring the Bison 2-1 the rest of the frame, but to no avail as Nichols still maintained a 14-6 advantage through three periods.  

The Bison went on to score three of the final five goals in the fourth, which included the first collegiate goals for freshman Madelyne Trimble and Amelia Dyda, leading the hosts to their 17-8 victory.

The Bison hop back on the road for a Noon conference game at Gordon College (1-7, 0-1 CNE) on Saturday, March 29^th at Brigham Complex.