Henniker, N.H. – New England College first-year forward Elise Luccarelli netted the lone goal of the game to lift the Pilgrims past the visiting Nichols College Bison, 1-0, Thursday afternoon. With the win the Pilgrims gain sole possession of second place in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) improving to 6-1 and extended their winning streak to seven games improving to 13-4 on the season. The loss drops the Bison to 4-2 in TCCC action and evens their overall record at 8-8.
The two teams battled through an even opening half of play as neither team was able to muster a goal. Nichols held the slight edge in shots on goal, outshooting NEC, 6-3, but Pilgrim keeper Mary Roux made six saves to keep the Bison off the board.
Luccarelli broke the scoreless tie early in the second half with her forth goal of the season unassisted just 6:04 into the half giving the Pilgrims the 1-0 lead. The two teams continued to battle back and forth through much of the second half as the Bison recorded six second-half shots on goal to the Pilgrims’ 14.
Both defenses proved too tough as Nichols’ keeper MaryKate Bednarz (Springfield, Mass.) came up huge with 13 second-half saves and NEC’s defense kept the Bison off the board escaping with the 1-0 win. Bednarz finished with 16 total saves on the day, while Roux stopped 12 in the shutout win.
Leading the way for Nichols College was Eileen Clinton (Londonderry, N.H.) and Brittney Case (Cambridge, N.Y.) who each recorded three shots on goal.
Nichols hosts Gordon College on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 10:00 a.m. in a crucial TCCC matchup.
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