Strong opening half lifts Bison past Pilgrims
Nichols College men’s soccer exploded for four first half goals lifting the Bison past the New England College Pilgrims 4-0 Saturday afternoon. With the win the Bison improve to 9-6-0 overall and even their conference record at 5-5-0. The loss evens the Pilgrims overall record at 7-7-1 and drops them to 4-5-1 in the conference.
Nichols wouldn’t waste much time getting on the board as Scott Coderre (Thompson, Conn.) would open the scoring just 5:24 into the game off a nice assist from Matthew Nash (W. Springfield, Mass.)
The Bison would add another score just two minutes later as Daniel Smith (Verona, N.J.) would head in a cross from Mark Capitanio (Mansfield, Mass.) putting Nichols up 2-0.
Nichols would continue to control much of the offense in the opening half as Coderre would put the Bison up 3-0 in the 11th minute as he would rebound in a shot from Tim Howard (Paxton, Mass.) The scoring would continue for Nichols as Howard would tack on another Bison score just over two minutes later extending the lead to 4-0.
The Pilgrims would have several scoring opportunities late in the second half as senior Aaron Benedetti (Rehobeth, Mass.) would record two shots on net but Nichols’ keeper Brendan Hamilton (N. Attleboro, Mass.) would record the saves.
The Bison would finish the game out shooting the Pilgrims just 10-9.
Picking up the win in net for Nichols was Brendan Hamilton who finished with an four saves. In net for NEC was Pat Harkin who finished with five saves on the afternoon.
The Pilgrims return to action on Tuesday, Oct. 20 when they host conference opponent Endicott College at 3:30 p.m. The Bison will host conference opponent Eastern Nazarene College on Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 3:30 p.m.
