HARTFORD, CONN – The Nichols College men's lacrosse team dropped in a close matchup, 4-7, against the Bluejays of Saint Joseph this afternoon at the USJ Lacrosse field.

With the loss, the Bison fell to 3–4 overall (0–0 CNE), while the Bluejays improved to 6–1 on the season (0–0 GNAC).

The Bison offense was led by junior midfielder Shea Ullo, who recorded a team-high two goals on six shots, including four on goal. Seniors John Caserta and Conor Doherty contributed to the scoring effort, each tallying a goal and an assist. Ullo also led the team in ground balls with five. Senior Travis Arnold added four ground balls and dominated at the faceoff X, going 10-for-14 on the day.

The Bison opened the game up first, scoring the first goal of the match coming from Caserta at the 12:57 mark, assisted by Conor Doherty. The match became stale with both teams playing amazing defense until the USJ capitalized on a Extra-man opportunity scoring 5 minutes later. The Bison responded, finding another goal, before the period ended, 2-1 with the Bison up.

Nichols was unable to find the back of the net in the second quarter, despite generating offensive opportunities and maintaining possession stretches throughout the period. USJ, however, capitalized on key moments, scoring four more goals in the quarter with the first at 10:30 and again at 9:58 to quickly build momentum early in the quarter. They added another goal at 7:30 to extend their lead, before finding the back of the net once more at 1:49 on a man-up opportunity to close out the half.

Nichols broke through in the third quarter with a key man-up goal that helped shift momentum. Conor Doherty found the back of the net at 4:51, capitalizing on the extra-man opportunity off an assist from Jonah Libby to cut into the deficit.The Bison applied consistent offensive pressure throughout the period, generating multiple chances and controlling possession for extended stretches. Defensively, Nichols held strong and kept USJ off the scoreboard for the entire quarter, marking a significant improvement as they looked to build momentum heading into the final frame.

Nichols stayed aggressive in the fourth quarter, continuing to battle back against USJ. The Bison scored midway through the period when junior midfielder Shea Ullo netted a man-up goal at 5:01, assisted by John Caserta, cutting the deficit to 4–6 and giving Nichols a spark late in the game. USJ responded at key moments to maintain control, scoring at 9:56 and again on a man-up goal with just 46 seconds remaining, extending their lead to 7–4 and closing out the game.

The Bison remain on the road for their next contest, traveling to face Manhattanville University on Saturday, March 21st , in Purchase at GoValiants.com Field. Faceoff is set for 12:00 PM.