Saints Drop Rainy Non-Conference Tilt at Nichols, 10-7

Dudley, Mass. - The heavy rain didn't put a damper on the Bison as they found their way to a 10-7 victory over the Emmanuel College (MA) Saints on Saturday afternoon in Dudley.
 
The Bison came out flying in the first quarter, outshooting the Saints 15-5 through the first 15, outscoring them 3-1. The first two goals came off the stick of Colby Gillis, with assist from Ryan Warner and Blake Covell respectively. Those goals put the Bison up by two less than four minutes into the contest. It was then Covell's turn to find his way into the goal column as he extended the Bison lead to three.
 
In the second quarter, the Bison would match their three goals thanks to three more Bison making their mark on the scoresheet. Sophomore John Caserta notched his first career goal at the 9:44 mark, after has his first career assist on the second Covell goal. Classmate Conor Doherty then extended his goal-streak to three games as he scored an unassisted tally. Less than a minute later, junior Jack Ellis would find his was to the net, extending the Bison lead to five. The Saints would answer back with a goal of their own with first-year Tyler Cardinal before the close of the quarter, but the Bison held on to a 6-2 lead into halftime.
 
With the opening of the second half, the Saints made a push to cut into the Bison lead, scoring two goals, one from Thomas Quigley and one from Samuel Yan in the third quarter. The Bison found themselves in penalty trouble in the third, recording 6 offenses, including three simultaneously with 5:10 left to play in the quarter. But despite this, the Bison held the Saints to just one goal on man-up opportunities. With the lead within two, graduate student Ryan Warner pushed the Bison lead back up to three with a late goal with just 6 seconds left to play in the frame.
 
The Saints continued to cut the Bison lead with goals by Cooper Mehlhorn and Cardinal, to bring the game to a tight one-goal difference. But with just over 8 minutes to play, CJ Cadigan scored the game-deciding 8^th goal, and the Bison never looked back. Blake Covell completed his hattrick by adding two goals in less than two minutes to seal the deal for the Bison. Jack Ellis assisted all three goals in that sequence to finish with 4 points on the outing. The Saints would go onto add a late goal, but the Bison would take the game with a 10-7 victory.
 
The Bison edged the Saints 14-6 in faceoffs thanks to specialist Travis Arnold, and Nichols also had the edge in ground balls 32-18. In goal, junior Brady Morgan was stellar, stopping 14 shots.
 
With the win, the Bison push to 3-0 for the first time since the 2018 season. They now look to their next game against Babson. That game will take place this Tuesday March 5^th at 7 PM on Vendetti Field. The Saints head to Kean University as part of their Spring Break trip on March 6 for a 6:00 p.m. game.

**Portions of this release courtesy Nichols College Athletic Communications Office