DUDLEY, Mass. (April 23) – The Nichols College women’s lacrosse team fell to Curry, 24-7, in the The Commonwealth Coast Conference regular-season finale for both teams Saturday afternoon on Vendetti Field. The Colonels were led by 12 points from senior Ashley Hansbury (Chelmsford, Mass.) and with a 9-2 TCCC record claim the third seed in the upcoming TCCC Championship Tournament. Nichols received four goals from Melanie Chhouy (Pepperell, Mass.), and will await the result of a coin flip for the eighth and final seed in the TCCC Tournament with a 3-8 record.
Hansbury scored 10 goals and added two assists for Curry (14-3 overall), which also saw senior Jessie Koffman (Andover, Mass.) cross the single-season 100-point mark for the first time in her career with seven goals and three assists to stand with 108 on the year. Lauren Glavin (Billerica, Mass.) chipped in with six points on two goals and four assists.
Chhouy netted for goals for the second game in a row for the Bison. Krista-Jean Forand (Plymouth, Mass.) added two tallies and Toni Minelli (Newington, Conn.) had a goal and an assist.
Curry held a 3-0 lead on Koffman’s 100th point of the year, a quick shot off a Hansbury dish in front of the net at 23:52. Chhouy broke the Colonel’s momentum with a free position goal, but Koffman and Hansbury stuck again for a 5-1 lead with 17:05 left in the half. Minelli potted one before Curry rattled off three-straight to hold an 8-2 lead at the 13:54 mark.
Chhouy then followed a Minelli-Forand connection with a pair of goals less than a minute apart to put Nichols back in the game, down 8-5, with a little over eight minutes left in the half, but the Colonels outscored the Bison, 4-1, the rest of the way to hold a 12-6 advantage at halftime.
Led by six strikes from Hansbury and three more from Koffman, Curry scored the first 11 goals of the second half before Forand potted a free position goal with 1:37 left in the game. Hansbury capped the scoring with a free position tally with 10 seconds left to play.
The Colonels outshot their hosts, 42-19 on the day, and held a 21-12 advantage in draw controls led by six from Hansbury and four from Mel Brickey (Chelmsford, Mass.). Curry was a perfect 11-of-11 in clears and scored on 6-of-8 free position attempts.
Maria Lynch (Billerica, Mass.) made five saves in the bulk of the game to earn the win before giving way to Kate Noe (Greenwich, Conn.) who finished out the second half and made one save and allowed one goal in the final 2:39. Lynch started the second half and played until sophomore Emily LeBlanc (Abington, MA) came in net making one save and allowing one goal. Danielle Mott (Cranston, R.I.) made seven saves in the loss.
Nichols stands tied with New England College and University of New England for the eighth and final berth in the TCCC tournament and will await the outcome of a coin flip to determine its postseason fate. The winner of the coin flip will travel to top-seeded Western New England College for the quarterfinal round on Saturday, April 30. Curry will host the sixth seed in the quarterfinals.
(Gane Recap Courtesy of Nichols Sports Information)
