BOSTON, Mass. – Junior Lindsay O'Connell (Danvers, Mass) and senior Brooke Marion (South Hadley, Mass.) each had four goals and an assist to help pace the Nichols College women's lacrosse team to a 12-8 victory over Wentworth Institute of Technology in a Commonwealth Coast Conference contest Tuesday afternoon on Sweeney Field.
The Bison pick up their first conference win of the 2017 campaign (1-1), improving to 2-6 overall, while the Leopards fall to 2-5 (0-2).
Nichols scored the four goals of the contest, scoring in the first 6:06 of the contest. Marion had two goals and an assist during that stretch.
Wentworth got on the board with 23:36 left when sophomore Jenna Tetreau (Dudley, Mass.) scored and classmate Brooke Paradis (Pelham, N.H.) followed with a man-down goal with 21:20 left to cut the lead in half. The Bison responded with five straight, which included two from Marion, and took a 9-2 lead when junior Allison Bench (Windham, N.H.) converted a free position shot with 12:21 remaining.
Paradis scored two goals in a span of 36 seconds to pull the Black & Gold within 9-4 with 2:31 remaining in the half and that score would hold up at the end of the half.
Senior Brandie Holland (Lynn, Mass.) opened the second half converting on a free-position shot 4:19 into the frame to make it 9-5. O'Connell scored a pair of goals sandwiched around a Paradis marker to make it 11-6 with 18:14 left. Less than a minute later Holland made it a four-goal margin, however Bench would feed senior Reilly Flaherty (Bellingham, Mass.) with 15:58 left to push the margin back to five.
A free position shot from sophomore Leah Cummins (Plymouth, Mass.) with 9:24 left made it 12-8 however the Leopards would get no closer.
In addition to O'Connell and Marion, sophomore Kristen Sullivan (Arlington, mass.) had a goal and two assists and Bench finished with a goal and an assist. Junior Melissa LaFleur (Chicopee, Mass.) won four draw controls and junior Rachel Birmingham (Naples, Fla.) had three caused turnovers.
Paradis finished with four goals for Wentworth while Holland added two markers. Both won four draw controls on the afternoon. Paradis and junior Sam Webb (Duxbury, Mass.) finished with three and two caused turnovers, respectively.
Freshman Emily Eagan (Hingham, Mass.) played the first 16:29 and made two saves. Classmate Molly Steen (Stevensville, Md.) finished the game, making 10 saves. Junior Haley Sabino (Topsfield, Mass.) made 10 saves for Wentworth. The Leopards had a 31-26 shot advantage and a 26-22 edge in ground balls while also winning 12 of 22 draw controls.
The Leopards host Maine Farmington tomorrow night while Nichols is at Rivier on Thursday.
For the latest on Wentworth Athletics, follow the Leopards via social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans can also download the Wentworth Leopards "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market.
