DUDLEY, Mass. - A trio of players on the Nichols College women's lacrosse squad contributed four goals apiece as the Bison defeated the Wentworth Institute of Technology women's lacrosse team, 20-9, in the season finale for both squads on Tuesday afternoon.
With the win, Nichols improves to 3-13 (1-7 Commonwealth Coast Conference), while Wentworth falls to 2-14 (0-8).
Senior Alexa Smith (Salem, N.H.) got the Bison on the board nearly two minutes into the first at the 28:23 mark, but the lead was short-lived as freshman Brooke Paradis (Pelham, N.H.) evened up the score at 1-all at 26.45. Ten seconds later, senior Meghan Dombkowski (Sagaponack, N.Y.) tallied the go-ahead goal and was followed up a string of three more goals to put Nichols up 5-1. After the Bison took a 5-1 lead, junior Brandie Holland (Lynn, Mass.) and Paradis tallied two goals 35 seconds apart to put Wentworth within two at 5-3 at the 16:15 mark. Nichols added two more goals to push its lead to 7-3, but the Leopards once again chipped away at the lead. Thanks to goals from Paradis and sophomore Sam Webb (Westminster, Md.), the Leopards again cut the lead to two at 7-5. Within the final four minutes of the first half, sophomore Lindsay O'Connell (Danvers, Mass.) contributed two goals to help lift Nichols to the 9-5 advantage.
Smith kicked off the Bison offense with a goal 39 seconds into the second that started a 3-0 run to help give Nichols a 10-5 lead. Junior Brooke Marion (South Hadley, Mass.) sent in the 15th Bison goal at 21:09 as Paradis tallied two more goals to help bring the Leopards within eight at 15-7. Smith and freshman Kristin Sullivan (Arlington, Mass.) bumped Nichols' lead up to 17-7 before freshman Leah Cummins' (Plymouth, Mass.) free-position goal at 16:31 put Wentworth back within single digits at 17-8. After Dombkowski's marker at 12:24 gave the Bison a 10-point advantage at 18-8, Paradis' goal at 9:49, her sixth of the game, cut the lead in half at 18-9. Nichols scored twice through the remaining four minutes in the second as junior Kelly Downey (Waltham, Mass.)'s goal with 47 ticks on the clock sealed the 20-9 victory.
Junior Olivia Morawski (Fairfield, Conn.), Smith and O'Connell each tallied four goals. Smith also had three assists, scooped up two ground balls and had six draw control wins, while sophomore Rachel Birmingham (Naples, Fla.) caused 10 turnovers and scooped up 12 ground balls. Junior Katherine Cotton (Kennebunk, Maine) had seven saves in the win.
Paradis paced the Leopards with six goals, scooped up three ground balls and had four draw control wins, while Cummins had a goal and four caused turnovers and Webb had a goal, an assist and scooped up three ground balls. Senior Hayley Patton (Cranston, R.I.) finished with 17 saves.
