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BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Morgan White scored six times and No.4 seed University of New England held off No.5 Nichols College for an 11-10 victory in the first round of the 2024 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Women's Lacrosse Championship at Blue Bolt Field on Saturday afternoon (Apr. 27).

The Nor'easters (7-9) advance to Wednesday's 4 p.m. tournament semifinal at top seed Roger Williams University, which earned a bye through the weekend. It will be the first time the program has made it back to the league semis since 2019.

After more than nine minutes of scoreless action at the top, White notched two in 49 seconds and the hosts never relinquished the lead. Behind a goal from Barrie Guertin and three saves by Jenna Trafford, it was 3-0 at the end of the 1st quarter, and White struck again at 12:50 of the 2nd to set the margin at four.

However, that was it for UNE in the half, as Briar Slattery recorded seven stops for the Bison in the period leading up to the break, and when Emma Patton found the back of the cage with 0:03 remaining, the gap was only one (4-3).

Two more from White started the 3rd frame to give the Nor'easters some breathing room (6-3). UNE maintained a cushion of two or three for the rest of the quarter, which was capped by a buzzer-beating score by White off a feed from Paige DeVries to make it 9-6.

White setup Abby McHallam for a leaping stuff at the 8:17 mark of the 4th to establish an 11-7 difference, but Nichols didn't go away easily. Goals from McKenzie Muir at 6:16 and 2:54 closed the deficit to two, and Gabriella Mandirola's second marker of the match at 2:22 sliced it to one. Muir controlled the ensuing draw and forced a free-position attempt with 1:43 on the clock, but her shot caromed off the post and the Nor'easters secured the rebound to all but run out the time.

The visitors were kept off the board across five free-position tries.

In addition to White's seven points, the junior pulled down a game-high eight draws. Guertin was the only other multiple goal scorer for UNE with two, Molly Henderson added a goal and two assists, and Emma Collingwood accounted for the remaining tally.

Elizabeth Guertin had team-bests of four ground balls and three caused turnovers; her younger sister, Barrie, Ashjan Abdulsalam, and Kaylee Lucas each contributed a pair of caused turnovers. Trafford wound up with seven saves.

Patton and Hadley Houghton joined Mandirola and Muir with two scores for the Bison, who end the year at 12-6 overall -- a program-record for wins in a season. Houghton, who came in averaging just under five goals per outing, led all players with five ground balls. Muir also finished with four draws and four caused turnovers. Slattery denied 11 shots in the losing effort.