DUDLEY, Mass. – The Nichols College men's lacrosse team suffered its first home loss of the season on Saturday afternoon, falling 12-4 to conference foe Western New England at Vendetti Field.
With the loss, the Bison move to 7-7 overall and 3-3 in Conference of New England (CNE) play, while the Golden Bears improve to 9-5 overall and remain unbeaten in conference action at 6-0.
Nichols was led offensively by
Shea Ullo, who recorded two goals.
Joey LaChance and
Jack Campbell each added a goal, with Campbell also contributing an assist.
Travis Arnold dominated the faceoff circle, winning 16 of 19 attempts while collecting a game-high 13 ground balls.
Conor Doherty and
Ethan Todd each added three ground balls, while
Mason Little caused two turnovers. In goal,
Carter Renaud played all 60 minutes, making seven saves on 23 shots faced.
Western New England opened the scoring despite Nichols applying early pressure with a shot in the first 30 seconds. The Golden Bears capitalized on their first attempt at the 14:09 mark and carried that momentum throughout the opening quarter. Although Nichols held a 10-7 edge in shots on goal, Western New England found the back of the net five times, including a late goal with 47 seconds remaining to take a 5-0 lead after one.
The Bison tightened up defensively in the second quarter, limiting the Golden Bears to just two goals. Nichols again outshot Western New England 6-4 but was unable to break through, heading into halftime trailing 7-0.
Nichols got on the board early in the third quarter, as Ullo scored at the 12:05 mark with a strong individual effort. However, Western New England responded with four unanswered goals to extend its lead. Ullo added his second of the game with 35 seconds left in the quarter, making it 11-2 heading into the final frame.
In the fourth, Campbell found the net at 8:44, and LaChance added a late goal off a feed from Campbell with just 15 seconds remaining. Despite a competitive effort in several statistical categories, Nichols was unable to overcome Western New England's early surge, falling 12-4.
Nichols will look to bounce back on the road when they face the Gulls of Endicott College at the Hempstead Stadium in Beverly, Mass on Tuesday April 14th at 4:00 pm.
