DUDLEY, Mass.—A big second quarter carried Nichols Men's Lacrosse to a 15-8 win over Gordon on a rainy Saturday morning at Vendetti Field. In a game that carried heavy Commonwealth Coast Conference playoff implications, Nichols guaranteed themselves a spot in the tournament, while knocking the Scots out of contention.

The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair that ended in a 5-5 tie. Gordon opened up the scoring with a goal from Nick Palandjian (Belmont, Mass.), who scored four goals in the opening period, before Nichols answered right back. The Fighting Scots took the leads at 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3, only for the Bison to answer the call each time. The Bison took their first lead of the game on a goal by Paul Tessier with 15 seconds remaining in the first, but Palandjian nabbed a buzzer beater to make it a tie game after 15 minutes.

However, that would be the last time Gordon would tie the game. Nichols went on an 9-1 run spanning the second and third quarters, including four straight to kick off the second. Jason Dantona (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) temporarily got the Scots back to three goals at 9-6, but the Bison scored two more before the end of the half to control the game at 11-6.

Nichols scored all three goals in the third period and the Scots were never able to claw their way back into the game.

Nico Manganiello (Peabody, Mass.) outscored the opposition by himself in the final period to close the gap to a seven-goal final.

Tessier lead the Bison with four goals and two assists. Reece O'Connor also had a big game with three goals and three helps, while Tyler Sikich contributed a hat trick. James Keane made 11 saves for the Bison to take the important decision.

Jay Gallipo (Dover, N.H.) made 10 stops in net for Gordon.

Both teams cleared the ball well including a season-high 20-of-21 completed by the Scots with only 15 turnovers. However, Nichols held a 20 to 6 advantage in wins in the face-off circle, which proved to be a deciding factor in the end.

Each team also had three man-up goals, while the Bison also added a short-handed strike.

The Fighting Scots close out their season at home against top-seeded Endicott on Tuesday at 4 p.m.