DUDLEY, Mass. (March 27) – The Nichols College women’s lacrosse team scored five first-half goals and held off a late attack by the Regis Pride to win its first The Commonwealth Coast Conference game of the season, 9-7, Saturday afternoon on Vendetti Field. Nichols improves to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in TCCC action, while Regis still searches for its first win of the year at 0-4 and 0-2 in conference play.

Nichols was led by sophomore attack Krista-Jean Forand (Plymouth, Mass.), who scored six goals. Regis received four goals and an assist from sophomore midfielder Teresa Crevier (Milford, Mass.), and three scores from sophomore midfielder Evonne Orozco (Waltham, Mass.).

The Bison scored the first five goals of the game before the nine-minute mark, with three coming fromForand and one each from Emily Yourie (Ellington, Conn.) and Darcy Russell (Uncasville, Conn.). Crevier got the Pride on the board before the end of the half for a 5-1 Bison lead at the break.

Regis turned the tables on the Bison in the opening five minutes of the second half, tying the game on four-straight tallies in the first 5:37. Orozco started the scoring just 39 seconds in before Crevier netted an unassisted score just under two minutes later. Crevier then assisted the first of two Orozco goals a minute and a half apart as the Pride knotted the game at five-all.

Forand took control of the scoring with the next three goals, the first two coming 39 seconds apart on free-position attempts for a 7-5 Bison lead, and then adding an unassisted tally less than two minutes later to put Nichols ahead by three at 12:21.

Lindsay Gustafson (Pepperell, Mass.) pushed Nichols ahead by four with just over eight minutes remaining before Crevier notched a pair over a minute apart to cut the deficit to two, 9-7.

Nichols held a 49-26 shot advantage in the game, and was held in check by Regis goalkeeper JillianDeFrancesco (Peabody, Mass.), who made 20 saves in the game. Nichols netminder Mary Michaud (Agawam, Mass.) picked up her first conference win of the season with 13 stops. 

The Bison maintained a 13-5 lead in draw controls, led by five wins from Brittany Tremont (Guilford, Conn.) and four from Yourie. Regis controlled the groundball battle, 28-25, led by seven from DeFrancesco.
Nichols continues TCCC action in a 4 p.m. game Monday, taking on New England College in a game at Southern New Hampshire University. Regis takes a break from conference play to host Husson at 11 a.m. Sunday.