SAINTS STAMPEDE BISON, 17-7

BOSTON, Mass. – Sophomore Emily Baker (Stratham, N.H.) netted a career-high five goals to lead Emmanuel College over Nichols College, 17-7, in a non-conference women's lacrosse contest played at Roberto Clemente Field on Monday night.  With the win, the host Saints improved to 10-3 on the season, while the Bison dropped to 4-9 overall.  Emmanuel has now tied the all-time series with Nichols at 2-2, dating back to when the two programs first met in 2012.

Nichols kicked off the scoring on the Bison's opening drive.  Senior Alyssa Bufis (Linden, N.J.) netted her first in a pair of goals on the night just 40 seconds into the game.  The Saints quickly tied things up on Baker's first marker at 26:40.  Junior Sarah Higgins (Groveland, Mass.) would then score twice unassisted and the Saints would not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the night.

Nichols senior captain Grace Murphy (Montclair, Va.) found the back of the net at 21:41 to bring the spread to 3-2, but the Bison would draw no closer.  A Baker scoring spree ensued with the sophomore attack rattling off a trio of unanswered goals over an eight-minute span and Emmanuel led 6-2.

After another Nichols score by Murphy, Emmanuel goals from Madison Altwies (Southington, Conn.) and Sarah Wootten (Berlin, Md.), both assisted by Kristen Tuleja (Mansfield, Mass.), set the score at 8-4.

Bufis scored her second of the night, before Higgins capped a first-half hat-trick for the Saints and EC led 9-4 at halftime.

Baker netted her fifth of the game just 48 seconds into the second half action.  Senior captain Alexia Basile (West Hartford, Conn.) then found Tuleja open and the junior midfielder scored for her 200th career point at 28:14.

An Emmanuel goal from Altwies would cap a 5-0 EC run and the Saints led 13-4. Altwies' third score of the night came with seven and a half minutes to play and sparked a running clock scenario as the hosts held a ten-goal lead at 16-6 lead.  Each club would score once more before it was over and the Saints pulled out the 17-7 victory.

Baker finished with her game-high five goals to lead the way for Emmanuel.  Tuleja notched five points coming off of three goals and two helpers.  Altwies netted four goals, while Higgins added a hat-trick, recorded five groundballs and won a game-high eight draw controls.  Wootten finished with three points (one goal, two assists) and Savannah Lundwall (Fiskdale, Mass.) notched two points (one goal, one assist) in the win for Emmanuel.

The Bison were led by two goals apiece from Murphy, Bufis and Olivia Morawski (Fairfield, Conn.).

Junior Lauren White (Lynnfield, Mass.), this week's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Goalie of the Week, earned her 10th win of the season, making nine saves in goal for the Saints.

Sophomore Katherine Cotton (Kennebunk, Maine) made six stops, playing 52:29 in the loss for the Bison.

The Saints will play their final regular season contest this Wednesday night, when Emmanuel hosts Rivier University on Clemente Field in a 7:00 PM start.  The five seniors on the Emmanuel squad will be honored prior to the start of this game.  Nichols returns to action on Thursday night, when the Bison travel to Framingham State University for a 7:00 PM start.