EAST BOSTON, Mass. – The Nichols College women's lacrosse team dropped to conference opponent Suffolk University, 18-6, on Saturday afternoon at East Boston Memorial.
With the loss, the Bison fall to 6-6 overall and 4-5 in conference play, while the Rams improve to 8-8 overall and 5-4 in league action.
The Bison offense was powered by first year
Kaylyn Bourque, who delivered a dominant performance with five goals, five draw controls, and five ground balls.
Madelyne Trimble added the other lone goal for the Bison, while
Makala Dube contributed an assist and three caused turnovers.
Emma Patton paced the offense, sending off three shots and grabbing two groundballs, marking her the 100th of her collegiate career .Defensively,
Briar Slattery stood strong in net, making six saves, facing 24 shots while collecting a ground ball in the effort.
Suffolk came out firing early, opening the game with a quick goal before Bourque answered just seconds later to even the score at 1-1. However, the Rams quickly seized control, using a series of free-position and man-up opportunities to fuel a dominant run. Suffolk rattled off seven of the next eight goals, building an 8-3 lead by the end of the first quarter. Despite late goals from Bourque and Trimble to keep Nichols within reach, the early deficit proved difficult to overcome.
The Rams continued their momentum into the second quarter, adding four unanswered goals to extend their lead to 12-3 at halftime. Nichols generated several offensive chances, outshooting Suffolk in the quarter, but could not find the back of the net against a strong performance from the Rams' goalkeeper.
Coming out of the break, Nichols looked to respond, but Suffolk maintained control of the tempo. The Rams added three more goals in the third quarter, while Bourque netted her fourth of the game off a feed from Dube to make it 14-4 heading into the final frame.
In the fourth, Bourque continued to battle, scoring twice more to complete her five-goal outing. However, Suffolk answered with three goals of its own to secure the 18-6 victory.
Nichols will look to bounce back as they return home for their next contest to conclude their season at home, facing conference opponent Johnson and Wales University at Vendetti Field, Wednesday April 22nd at 4:00 PM.
