MILTON, Mass. – In a Commonwealth Coast match-up on Thursday afternoon, Curry College defeated visiting Nichols College, 16-5, in women's lacrosse action in Milton, Mass. With the win, the Colonels improve their overall record to 9-7 and move to 3-4 in the conference. The Bison even out to 7-7 overall and 2-5 in the CCC.
Curry got on the board just 1:35 minutes when senior Kelly Ethier (Manchester, N.H.) netted a free position shot. Just minutes later, senior Kaitlin Cloutier (Montpelier, Vt.) assisted freshman Alli Schoff (Berwick, Maine) to take a 2-0 lead. Nichols answered back under a minute later when sophomore Alexsa Smith (Salem, N.H.) fed the ball to junior Alyssa Bufis (Linden, N.J.). The Colonels went on to score four unanswered before the Bison would close out the period with their own goal with 37 seconds remaining to play. During the Curry run, senior Mel Brickey (Chelmsford, Mass.) tallied two, Cloutier and freshman Malorie Knowlton (Norfolk, Mass.) each one. Bufis netted her second for Nichols. The Colonels went into the break with a 6-2 lead.
Senior Deanna Monfredo (West Islip, N.Y.) started off the scoring in the second period off an assist from Brickey. The Bison reeled off two in a row to cut the lead down to three at 7-4. Smith assisted freshman Brooke Marion (South Hadley, Mass.) and junior Grace Murphy (Montclair, Va.) scored an unassisted goal. Curry netted seven in the span of nine minutes to increase their advantage and leave no chance for a Nichols comeback. The Colonels scored three man-up tallies during their run, one free position and one unassisted. Schoff netted a free position at the 20:28 minute mark followed by a goal from sophomore Emma Bolton (Mahwah, N.J.) off an assist by Ethier, Brickey unassisted, Schoff from Brickey, Monfredo from Carey, Carey from Brickey and freshman Kelly Parker (Branford, Conn.) unassisted. Marion scored her second and team's final with 8:08 left to play. Curry held possession and ran off five minutes off the clock before tallying their final two and team's total 16 at the 3:07 minute mark and then with 20 seconds left in regulation. Knowlton netted another unassisted goal and Schoff scored her fourth of the game off the stick of Carey.
The Colonels were led by Brickey who had three goals and three assists. The senior also scooped up four ground balls, caused six turnovers and won eight draws. Schoff led all scorers with four goals. For the Bison, Marion, Bufis and Smith all had two points. Senior Shelby Aminti (Pepperell, Mass.) led her team with three draws.
Junior Christina Wallis made eight saves in net for Curry in the win. Freshman Katherine Cotton (Kennebunk, Maine) also had 8 stops in net for the Bison in the loss.
Curry returns to conference action on Wednesday, April 23 as they host Endicott College in a 4:00 p.m. game. Nichols plays host to conference opponent Roger Williams on Wednesday, April 23 for a 7:00 p.m. start.
