DUDLEY, Mass. – The Mount Ida College women's lacrosse team suffered a 16-8 set back at the hands of the Bison of Nichols College on Saturday morning. Senior Molly Sheppard (Brookhaven, N.Y.) and freshman Rebecca Beaulieu (Weare, N.H.) led the Mustangs with two goals apiece while Sheppard also added an assist. With the win, Nichols begins the season (1-0, 0-0 CCC) while Mount Ida drops to (1-3, 0-0 GNAC).
In the season opener for Nichols, the Bison jumped out to an early 5-0 advantage. Junior Erica Antonison (Albertson, Mass.) scored on a free position shot for the 1-0 lead. Alyssa Bufis (Linden, N.J.) and Alexa Smith (Salem, N.H.) each recorded two goals apiece in a ten minute span to propel the Bison to a commanding lead just under eighteen minutes into the contest.
Beaulieu would get the Mustangs on the board at the 16:37 mark off an assist from Sheppard, cutting into the hosts lead at 5-1. Junior attack Grace Murphy (Montclair, Va.) would net her first score of the game off a free position shot to increase Nichols' lead to 6-1. Seconds later Smith would strike again for the Bison off an assist from Antonison, all while increasing the cushion to 7-1. Mount Ida would fire off two straight free position goals from Sheppard and Kaitlyn Affhauser (Chesire, Mass.), while chipping away at the deficit, 7-3. Bufis would tally her third goal of the game, good for a hat trick with 10:25 remaining in the stanza before Mustang Samantha Basler (Plymouth, Mass.) would notch her first goal of the game before Amanda Bowen (Randolph, Vt.) would finish off the half also scoring her first marker off the game off the stick of Affhauser. At the break, Nichols would lead Mount Ida 8-5.
Nichols would score the first two goals of the second half while adding to their lead at 10-5. Antonison and Murphy recorded the two tallies while giving the hosts a five goal cushion. Sheppard notched her second and final goal of the game before Antonison would again strike for the Bison on a free position shot increasing the lead to 11-6.
Mount Ida climbed to within three at 11-8 following goals by freshman Nicole Pavao (Peabody, Mass.) and Beaulieu's second of the game midway through the second half before the Bison closed the game with five-straight goals. Murphy and Antonison each had a pair down the stretch while Bufis tallied her fourth.
Senior Shelby Aminti (Pepperell, Mass.) collected six ground balls and caused four turnovers for the Bison. Antonison, meanwhile, also had six ground balls to go along with three caused turnovers. Senior Alison Koning (Carlisle, Mass.) led the Mustangs with five ground balls and four turnovers.
Junior goalie Sammy Levitt (Wayland, Mass) took the loss for the Mustangs while making 16 saves on 32 shots. Katherine Cotton (Kennebunk, Maine) made three saves on 11 shots for the Bison. Nichols outshot Mount Ida 41-13 on the afternoon while Mount Ida had 32 turnovers to Nichols 18.
Both teams will be back in action this coming week when the Bison will travel to Smith College on Monday, March 10th for a 4:00 start, while Mount Ida will host the Vikings of Salem State University on Wednesday afternoon at Alumni Field for their home opener with game time slated for 3:30 p.m.
Some Content Courtesy of Nichols College Sports Information