DUDLEY, Mass. (April 13) – Sophomore attacker Jordan Alexander scored six goals to lead the Gordon College women’s lacrosse team to a 14-7 victory over Nichols in a The Commonwealth Coast Conference game Tuesday evening at Vendetti Field. The host Bison received seven points from sophomore attacker Krista-Jean Forand (Plymouth, Mass.), who notched five goals and two assists. Gordon improves to 4-5 overall and moves to 4-3 in conference play, while the Bison fall to 2-8 overall and 1-6 in league games.
Sophomore midfielder Jocie Knaus added three goals and an assist for the Fighting Scots, while senior attacker Michaela Woods scored twice.
Sophomore midfielders Emily Yourie (Ellington, Conn.) and Brittany Tremont (Guilford, Conn.) added goals for Nichols.
Alexander put the visitors on the board 17 seconds following the opening draw, but Forand responded two minutes later to knot it up. Gordon then rattled off the next three before Forand stopped the streak with her second tally for a 4-2 score at the 9:17 mark.
The teams traded scores before Gordon again hit a three-goal spree in a span of 1:05 to edge ahead by five at 8-3, capped by an unassisted marker from Parisa Hassanzadeh at 14:30.
After another goal from Forand, the Scots closed the half with goals from Woods and Jocie Knaus to hold a 10-4 lead at the break.
The second half proved to be much closer, as Nichols held a 15-7 overall shot advantage and the teams found themselves with nearly identical marks in all other statistical categories, except for 10 second-half saves from Gordon netminder Amelia Vierstra that kept Nichols to just three goals in the stanza.
Gordon got on the board first to make it 11-4 in favor of the visitors, but Tremont picked up a goal to bring the deficit to six at the 6:32 mark. That’s how it would stand for over 10 minutes until Jocie Knaus and Alana Woods hit back-to-back goals to edge back ahead. Forand and Yourie scored again for the Bison, but a free-position goal from Alexander helped keep the game out of reach.
Nichols goalkeeper Mary Michaud (Agawam, Mass.) finished with eight saves in the game, while Vierstra stopped 10, all in the second half.
The two teams finishes the game close in most statistical categories, with Gordon holding a slim edge in ground balls (23-21) and shots (24-22), but with the Bison turning the ball over three fewer times than the Scots (23-26). Gordon cleared the ball on 12 of 15 attempts, while Nichols was held to an 11-of-21 effort.
The Bison take a break from conference play to travel to Rivier Thursday for a 7 p.m. game. Gordon travels to Western New England College Thursday for a 4 p.m. TCCC game.
Box Score