FH: Late goal lifts Nichols past Lasell in nail-biter

DUDLEY, Mass. – Grad student Dana Edwards (Georgetown, Mass.) scored the game-winning goal with 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter Tuesday evening as Nichols College pulled out a 4-3 victory over Lasell University in non-conference field hockey action at Venditti Field.

Edwards and teammate Abigail Karalus (Dudley, Mass.) each scored two goals for the Bison, who improved to 5-3 on the season. Sophomore Lily Stark (Saco, Maine) scored twice for the Lasers and freshman Alyson Barnes (South Deerfield, Mass.) added one goal but the Lasers dropped to 3-4.

Edwards gave the Bison a 1-0 lead early in the second quarter with her fifth goal of the season. Stark evened the score at 1-1 in the final minute of the first half with her fourth of the year and gave Lasell the lead with her second of the night seven minutes into the third quarter. Barnes pushed the Laser advantage to 3-1 less than a minute and a half later with her first career goal.

But Nichols would pull out the victory with three unanswered goals in the fourth quarter. Karalus went back-to-back three minutes apart at 47:06 and 50:06 to deadlock the score, and Edwards tallied the game-winner with the clock winding down.

The Bison finished with a 32-12 advantage in shots and a 13-2 margin in penalty corners. Freshman goalie Courtney Tello (Nashua, N.H.) made 14 saves for Lasell in the setback, and freshman Sophia Venable (Troy, N.Y.) tallied two saves for Nichols.

The Lasers return to Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action on Saturday with a visit to the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) for a 12-noon contest. Nichols plays a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) match-up Saturday at Roger Williams University.

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