Hawks get trampled by Bison
Dudley, Mass. - Nichols College senior Chelsea Blair (Blandford, Mass) scored two goals and had two assists to lead the Bison to an 11-2 victory over Becker College in women's soccer action Thursday afternoon. The win marks the third straight for the Bison, who improve to 5-3 on the season, while the Hawks fall to 1-6 on the year.
First-year midfielder Chelsea Shaughnessy (Halifax, Mass.) added a career-high five points with a pair of goals and an assist, while Nicole Johnson (Westhampton, Mass.), Kaitlyn DiBuono (Auburn, Mass.), Kaila Gray (Pembroke, N.H.) and Kensey Marsland (Ware, Mass.) each added a goal and an assist.
Shaughnessy volleyed in a cross from Houle in the seventh minute to put Nichols on the board before Holly Ventura (Hudson, Mass.) headed in a corner from Gray less than two minutes later. Shaughnessy gave the Bison a 3-0 lead in the 14th minute when she planted a DiBuono rebound.
The scoring remained quiet for the following 10 minutes, but the Bison rattled off a pair of goals three minutes apart, started with a DiBuono header and capped with Gray's second tally of the game for a 5-0 lead. Marsland gave Nichols a 6-0 lead in the 40th minute, assisted by Blair, to end the half.
Becker freshman Alexandra Fernandes (Tuscon, Ariz.) spoiled the Bison's season-long home shutout streak with an early second-half tally that sailed past Nichols netminder Sarah Levesque (Ludlow, Mass.) in the upper right 90 to put the Hawks on the board.
Johnson scored on a penalty kick in the 67th minute before Blair added her pair in the 78th and 81st minutes, the latter assisted by Jessica Ferris (Springfield, Mass.).
Sophomore Alena Phongsa (Putnam, Conn.) picked up an unassisted tally for Becker in the 84th minute with a long, low shot that found the left corner.
The Bison capped the scoring with an own goal in the 86th minute.
Levesque made two saves in the win, while Shannon Tibbetts (Warren, Mass.) stopped six in the loss.
Nichols Is back in action at Vendetti Field on Saturday in a 7 p.m. TCCC game against Regis. Becker travels to Elms for a 3:30 p.m. NECC game on Saturday.
-Nichols College Sports Information-
