BOSTON, Mass. – Two goals and four assists from graduate student Reece O'Connor (North Grafton, Mass.) – with three of his assists coming during a 7-0 run – helped the Nichols College men's lacrosse team pick up a 13-4 win over Wentworth Institute of Technology in Commonwealth Coast Conference play Tuesday night on Sweeney Field.
With the win the Bison improve to 6-3 overall and 1-1 in CCC play while the Leopards fall to 5-3 (1-1).
Nichols took a 2-1 lead after the first quarter of play. O'Connor set up junior MacKenzie Martin (Merrimack, N.H.) for a man-up goal four minutes into play and less than two minutes later junior Jack Zaremski (Dorchester, Mass.) made it 2-0. Wentworth got on the board just 20 seconds last on a senior Sean Farmer (Billerica, Mass.) marker, however the Bison would score the last two of the opening frame and all five goals in the second quarter to take a 9-1 lead at the break.
Two junior Kevin Butler (Jefferson, Mass.) man-up goals – both assisted by Farmer – ended the Wentworth scoring drought and pulled the Black & Gold to 9-3 with 4:22 remaining in the third quarter. Senior Tyler Sikich (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) gave the Bison a 10-3 lead after three quarters and O'Connor netted his second of the game with 8:20 left to make it 11-3.
Farmer scored his second of the game in a man-up situation with 6:40 left in the contest, however that would be as close as the Leopards would come as the Bison scored twice to round out the scoring.
Martin, senior Matt Feignblat (Shelton, Conn.), and Zaremski each had two goals while Sikich added a goal and an assist. Skiich also scooped up eight ground balls. Senior Kevin D'Angelo (Pelham, N.H.) was nearly perfect at the X, winning 14-of-15 times as the Bison were 18-of-21 as a team.
Farmer finished with two goals and two assists while Butler had a pair of goals. Freshman Jake Berry (Beverly, Mass.) scooped up five ground balls and caused a pair of turnovers.
Sophomore Brian McKinley (Nashua, N.H.) made 19 saves for Nichols while junior Adam Dufault (Lexington, Mass.) made eight saves for Wentworth. The Leopards had a 34-29 shot advantage while the Bison won the ground ball battle, 36-27.
Wentworth hosts Endicott on Saturday while Nichols hosts Daniel Webster Thursday.
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