DUDLEY, Mass. – Juniors Brittney McLaughlin (Wilmington, Mass.) and Alayna Coakley (Grafton, Mass.) scored three and a half minutes apart in the second half as Curry downed host Nichols, 2-0, in the Commonwealth Coast Conference women’s soccer opener for both teams on Saturday. With the win, Curry improves to 3-2-0 and 1-0-0 in the league while the Bison dip to 2-3-1 and 0-1-0 in the loop.

Sophomore Alyssa Tosti (Douglas, Mass.) looked to put the Bison on top early as she had a breakaway opportunity but her shot would go high at 7:22. With 34:59 showing on the scoreboard, Curry sophomore Stefanie Faucher (North Grosvenordale, Conn.) booted the ball from close range only to be blocked by sophomore Sam MacMillan (Bridgewater, Mass.). In the 34th minute, Faucher’s attempt would be thwarted by first-year backstop Melissa Toomey (Saugus, Mass.) who made a great diving save.  Curry outshot the Bison 13-5 and took four of the seven corner kicks of the frame.

With 10:11 expired in the second half McLaughlin found the back of the net as Coakley put the Colonels up by two in the 59th minute. Both teams took seven shots and Nichols was awarded the only corner kick of the stanza.

Senior Samantha Hardy (Pepperell, Mass.) (2-2-0) turned away five shots in the victory for the visitors.

Toomey (0-2-1) collected six saves before rookie Kelly English (Mansfield, Mass.) entered the match to make one stop in the final 29:23.

Both squads are back in action at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Nichols hosts Becker while Curry completes a three-match road trip with a visit to Colby-Sawyer. (Game Recap Courtesy of Nichols College Sports Information)