DUDLEY, Mass.  – The Colby-Sawyer women's lacrosse team kicked off the 2024 season on Saturday falling to Nichols College by a 14-11 final. 

Rapid Recap: 

• First year Rose Finlayson (Hopkinton, N.H.) kicked off the game for the Chargers netting a sweet flick goal on an assist by sophomore Cecilia Ponzini (Windham, N.H.). Just 50 seconds later the Bison answered as Hadley Houghton scored past the Chargers. Junior Heather Hanson (Barnstable, Mass.) followed with 8:46 left in the first with goal number 101 in her career to give CSC the lead once again. Nichols battled back scoring two in a row to take the lead, but a strike by first year Andrea Smith (Gray, Maine) on a feed from Finlayson kept the score even to head into the second. 
• The Bison took the lead once again to start the second, but a free position snipe by graduate student Hannah Marquis (Weare, N.H.) evened the score. Hanson once again gave the Chargers the lead with 10:04 to play in the first half, but a 3-0 run by the home team gave the advantage back to the Bison. Smith netted her second goal of her young career to stop the run, but the Bison would add one more strike to take a 8-6 lead into halftime. 
• After Emma Paton netted a goal for the Bison to extend the lead, junior Soph Kuhlthau (Cheshire, Conn.) picked up her first goal of the season. Nichols strung together two more goals halted by a goal by sophomore Elena Bronson (Bristol, Vt.) as we headed into the fourth quarter at a score of 11-8. 
• The Bison started the fourth quarter strong with three goals in the first four minutes to extend the lead to 14-8. Finlayson sparked a Charger run with a goal and a pair of assists to Smith and Hanson, but the Chargers ran out of time losing by a 14-11 final. 

Inside The Numbers: 

• Finlayson was stellar in her first game with two goals and three assists. Smith netted a hat trick along with Hanson who also added three ground balls. 
• Ponzini led the passing attack with three assists. 
• Junior Emma Webster (Campton, N.H.) led the defense with three caused turnovers, while junior Hannah Himes (Williston, Vt.) added a pair of caused turnovers and four grounders. 
• Junior AJ Paton (Exeter, N.H.) stopped eight shots in the loss falling to 0-1. 
• Houghton paced the Bison with eight total points on six goals and two assists. Hadley added five ground balls, five caused turnovers and four draws. Paton added three goals and an assist. 

Up Next:  
The Chargers will travel to Clark University on Wednesday for a 4:00 PM start in Worcester. 
 
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