WORCESTER, Mass. (9/15/2025) – In a late Monday night game in Worcester, Massachusetts, the Nichols men's soccer team failed to find an answer to the Clark University's attack. After 90 minutes of play, the Bison fell in a challenging non‑conference match to the Cougars, 5-0.
The Bison now move to 0-4‑2 (0-1 CNE) while Clark improves to 3‑1.
The Cougars broke through in the 14th minute when senior forward Carter Benoff collected the ball and slotted the ball past Nichols' goalkeeper Madison Ferrao to give Clark a 1–0 lead.
The Cougar's continued to apply high pressure straight from the restart. Just 67 seconds later, Clark doubled its lead. This time, Benoff turned provider, finding Shahmeer Waseem in stride who would score.
Nichols responded with a brief spell of possession midway through the first half, earning a corner kick and registering a shot on goal off that corner from Carter Hoglund, but his shot was not enough to beat Clark's goalkeeper Diego Marin. The Bison went into half time trailing the Cougars 2-0.
Clark came out firing in the second half, tallying three more goals. In the 53rd minute, Clark extended its lead to 3-0 through a well-executed team move that was finished by Jacob Ordonez. Henry Kuerbis would add a fourth goal 24 minutes later to put the game out of reach for the Bison.
As the final minutes ticked down, Clark capped off the night with a fifth goal. With 59 seconds to go, Richard Ogawa Jr. broke free and finished to close the scoring at 5–0. Nichols had a handful of decent looks but couldn't convert any on the night.
Despite the scoreline, Madison Ferrao made several key saves during his collegiate debut, including back-to-back stops in the 60th and 64th minutes that kept Nichols within reach. He was the only Bison to play all 90 minutes, recording 9 saves on the night.
Nichols men's soccer team have a quick turnaround, as they will travel to Newton, Massachusetts in less than 48 hours to square off against Lasell University. That game will take place on Wednesday, September 17th at 3 PM.
