Nichols College Athletics

BURRILLVILLE, R.I. (11/6/2026) - The Nichols College women's ice hockey team dropped a close decision to Johnson & Wales University (JWU) in their Conference of New England (CNE) opener this evening, the loss handed as the result of a 2-1 final score.

Prior to the game, the Bison welcomed Dr. Brendan Williams for their Staff & Faculty game puck drop, followed by another puck drop for Jeff Devlin, father of Riley Devlin in lue of their Face-Off Against Cancer game.

With the loss, the Bison move to 3-1-0 overall and 0-1-0 in conference play, while the Wildcats improve to 2-1-0 overall and 1-0-0 in the CNE.

Nichols got off to a fast start, opening the scoring just 3:29 into the first period. Junior Delaney Giesen found the back of the net for her first collegiate goal off an assist from Emma Singleton to give the Bison an early 1-0 advantage. Nichols carried the lead into the first intermission while holding Johnson & Wales off the scoreboard.

The Wildcats responded in the second period, tying the contest at 9:15 on a power-play goal from Zoe Beck, assisted by Ava Morgan and Zoe Tow. The two teams battled through the remainder of the period, with neither side able to find the go-ahead goal.

In the third period, both teams continued to generate offensive opportunities as the game remained deadlocked. However, Johnson & Wales broke through late, as Morgan scored at 17:46 off assists from Jordan Hopping and Charlie Groff to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead. Nichols was unable to find the equalizer in the closing minutes as Johnson & Wales held on for the victory.

Giesen recorded the lone goal for Nichols, while Singleton contributed an assist. Alexis Pacheco led the Bison with five shots on goal, while Giesen and Keira Goffe each finished with three shots.

In net, sophomore Ivy Grant turned aside 26 shots for Nichols, keeping the Bison within striking distance throughout the contest. Nichols finished with a 33-28 advantage in shots, while the Wildcats held a 32-17 edge in faceoffs. The Bison also recorded 14 blocked shots.

Nichols returns to action on Saturday, November 7th, when the Bison travel to face Johnson & Wales University for the second game of the weekend series. Puck drop is set for 4:00 PM.