BOSTON, Mass. – The Connecticut College men's ice hockey team battled tough against tournament hosts Nichols College, but ultimately fell 5-1 on Sunday afternoon in the Boston Landing Invitational championship game from the Warrior Ice Arena.

Nichols started quickly forcing two saves from Will McEvoy within the opening 30 seconds. Jack Houser (Arlington, Mass.) answered with Conn's first shot a minute later, but he was turned aside by Ryan Henry. With just over two minutes left in the period, the Bison opened the scoring on a tally from Jeremy Tremblay. Nichols extended the lead with just a second left in the period on a goal from Christian Holden to lead 2-0 after one.

The Camels had a chance to get on the board thanks to an early power play opportunity in the middle frame, but Conn was unable to convert. Seven and a half minutes into the period, Nichols pushed the lead to three as Alexis Trudeau found the back of the net at 7:24.

The Camels finally got on the board at 13:17. Matt Lewis (Pembroke, Mass.) and Pete Stanger (Bathurst, New Brunswick) connected before finding Will Lawrence (Bethesda, Md.) who fired home to make it 3-1. However, the Bison responded just 49 seconds later as Nick Brennan scored to put Nichols in front 4-1 heading to the third.

Conn opened up the final period with another power play, but once again were unable to capitalize with the extra skater. The Camels continued to push looking to cut into the deficit, but could not solve Henry. With three and a half minutes remaining, Conn pulled McEvoy for the extra skater, however, with just under a minute remaining Luca Ricci found the empty net to give the Bison the 5-1 win.

Conn outshot Nichols 46-29, while holding a 32-28 edge on face-off wins.

McEvoy got the start in goal and finished with 24 saves. Lawrence tallied the lone goal for the Camels, as Lewis and Stanger both added one assist. Lewis led the way with 11 face-off wins, as Conn finished 2-3 on the penalty kill and 0-6 on the power play. Following the tournament, Lawrence was named to the All-Tournament team after recording two goals and one assist across the two games.

Henry picked up the win in goal, recording 45 saves. Ricci led Nichols with three points on one goal and two assists, while nine other Bison recorded one point. Nichols finished 1-3 on the power play and 6-6 on the penalty kill.

Conn (5-4-1, 2-3-1 NESCAC) returns home for the first time in the new year, as the Camels host Manhattanville at 3:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon in Dayton Arena.