Men’s Lacrosse Comeback Bid at Gwynedd Mercy Falls Short in Overtime, 10-9

Men’s Lacrosse Comeback Bid at Gwynedd Mercy Falls Short in Overtime, 10-9 | https://nicholsathletics.com/

By Mid Massachusetts News Reports

Mar 23, 2023

The Nichols men's lacrosse team fell in overtime by a score of 10-9 to Gwynned Mercy in the first game of its spring break trip on Wednesday afternoon at the Gwynedd Mercy Athletic Complex. Nichols dropped to 5-2 (0-0 CCC) while Gwynedd Mercy earned its first win of the season to sit at 1-4 (0-0 AEC).

Trailing 7-3 at halftime with three goals off the stick of Cian Keohane, Nichols began to chip away at the deficit during the second half and outscored the Griffins 6-3 to force overtime. After the Griffins added a goal on a man-up opportunity, Keohane responded with one of his own to cut the lead back to four with his fourth goal, as part of a five-goal swing for the Bison over a 15:13 span. Jack Ellis capped the run off with an unassisted goal with 10:10 remaining to tie the contest at 8-8.

Ian Kish found the back of the net to take the lead for the home side with 7:52 to play, but once again the Bison were able to tie it up on a Hunter Ferreira strike with 4:38 to play to force the overtime period.

Off the opening draw, Gwynedd Mercy called timeout to draw up a play, and not long after Jason Eide beat Brady Morgan to give the Griffins their first win of the season.

Keohane finished with five goals, followed closely by Ferreira with two goals and an assist. Ellis' two points and Ryan Warner's goal rounded out the offensive attack for the Bison.

Travis Arnold handled the face-off duties for the Bison and came out victorious with 13 wins on 23 tries with eight ground balls. Kyle Ettenhofer and Cooper Melvin each scooped five of their own.

In goal, Morgan made 13 saves on 23 shots in his first loss of the season.

On extra-man opportunities, Nichols was 2-for-5 while the Griffins went 1-of-3.

Nichols went a perfect 17-of-17 on clear attempts while forcing six failed clears for the Griffins. Additionally, the Bison picked up 34 ground balls to Gwynedd Mercy's 25.

Next up, the Bison head to Baltimore, Md. For a 1 p.m. Saturday showdown with Goucher from Beldon Field.