Luccarelli lifts NEC past Nichols
New England College first-year forward Elise Luccarelli (Holmdel, N.J.) would net the lone goal of the game lifting 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 would be able to muster a goal. Nichols held the slight edge in shots on goal out shooting NEC 6-3 but Pilgrim keeper Mary Roux (Auburn, Mass.) would make six saves keeping the Bison off the board.
NEC’s Elise Luccarelli would break the scoreless tie early in the second half as she would net her forth goal of the season unassisted just 6:04 into the half giving the Pilgrims the 1-0 lead. The two teams would continue to battle back-and-forth through much of the second half as the Bison would record six second half shots on goal and the Pilgrims would register 14 second half shots on net. Both defenses proved too tough as Nichols’ keeper Mary Kate Bednarz (Springfield, Mass.) would come up huge with 13 second half saves and NEC’s defense would keep the Bison off the board escaping with the 1-0 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.
Picking up the shutout win in net for NEC was Mary Roux who finished with 12 saves. Playing the complete game in net for Nichols was Mary Kate Bednarz who stopped a total of 16 Pilgrim shots on the afternoon.
NEC returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 25 when they travel to take on conference opponent Western New England College at 6:00 p.m. Nichols will host Gordon College on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 10:00 a.m.
