PROVIDENCE, R.I. (2/13/2026) - The Nichols College women's ice hockey team traveled for Friday night installment of conference play against the Johnson and Wales University (JWU) Wildcats. Following their contest at Lynch Arena, the Bison were handed a Conference of New England (CNE) loss, 1-6.

With the loss, Nichols' overall record drops to 6-17-0, seeing a drop for their CNE record as well at 3-13-0. The Wildcats improve with the win now sitting at 11-10-1 in the season, 8-7-1 in the CNE.

Nichols opened the night with some pressure in the Wildcats' defensive zone. Keira Goffe and Kaylyn Bourque generated the first scoring looks with multiple shot attempts, forcing multiple saves from the JWU goaltender and putting the Wildcats on their heels early. However, the momentum shifted at 14:38 when JWU was able to put themselves on the board first in their score, gaining an edge over the Bison 1-0 early. Nichols earned a power-play midway through the period and fired several shots, but couldn't find the scoring chance to put themselves ahead. Despite strong goal tending from Taylor Daley and a handful of defensive blocks, Nichols went to the locker room trailing 0-3 after JWU scored two other occasions to end the opening period.

Nichols was able to regroup in the second period and played a better overall frame than in the first. The Bison held strong defensively and controlled more possession, limiting JWU chances. At 13:31, Kasey Litwin finished a pass from Avery Moriarty in front of the net for her third goal of the season, scoring to get Nichols on the board and potentially build momentum for the Bison. The goal cut the deficit to two, and their defensive efforts held JWU scoreless the entire period. Nichols generated more scoring attempts on multiple power-play opportunities but couldn't add another score, heading into the third down 1-3.

Nichols generated opportunities in the third but saw struggles defensively with penalties favoring the Wildcats. After battling through much of the period, JWU capitalized on the power-plays, and added an empty-netter during a late push by the Bison. Three goals in the final eight minutes, including two on the power-play proved to seal the game for the Wildcats, giving the Bison a 1-6 conference loss. 

Women's ice hockey will return to the Levy Rink tomorrow, Saturday, February 14th. Puck is set to drop for the game starting at 3:40 PM. 

Saturday's contest will also honor several Bison for their Senior Day prior to the contest. The Bison will be hositng their second SAAC Athletes-4-Athletes game as well.