MANCHESTER, N.H. – Despite a five goal performance from freshman Marissa Daly (Marshfield, Mass.), the Saint Anselm College women's lacrosse team fell to the No. 10-ranked Falcons of Bentley University by a 12-9 score Tuesday evening at Grappone Stadium. With the loss, the No. 13-ranked Hawks fall to 8-7 overall on the season alongside a 6-5 mark within Northeast-10 Conference play. The Falcons improve to 11-5 overall on the season alongside an 8-3 mark within the conference.
Prior to the game, the Hawks honored their five graduating seniors in a pre-game ceremony. Attack Meghan Smith (Pittsford, N.Y.), midfielder Shawna Walsh (Woburn, Mass.), defenseman Brie Haseotes (North Attleboro, Mass.), defenseman Caroline Wintersteen (Jericho, Vt.) and attack Mikaela Ferguson (Hopkinton, Mass.) celebrated with family and friends in front of a large Grappone Stadium crowd.
After a strike by the Falcons' Jackie Brown to open play in the first half, Daly struck for her 49th and 50th goals of the season as the Hawks temporarily took a 2-1 lead. Three-straight Falcons goals from Brown, attack Cori Geiger and midfielder Carolyn Kynoch increased the spread to 4-2 Bentley. Freshman Sarah Doherty (Franklin, Mass.) converted her 13th goal of the season with 7:10 remaining in the first half, bringing the Hawks to within one goal. Bentley rallied with three unanswered to close out the half in style as Megan Wiggins struck twice while Kynoch recorded an unassisted goal as Bentley took a 7-3 lead.
Trailing by four goal entering the second period, the Hawks were able to tie the score at nine apiece with six minutes remaining in the half. After trading goals early in the half to bring the score to 9-5 Bentley, the Hawks tied the game at nine apiece with six minutes remaining in the game. Junior midfielder Carrie Brophy (Mansfield, Mass.) struck for her 14th goal of the season with 16:34 remaining in the half. Daly struck twice within 31 seconds to bring the score to 9-8 while Smith tied the score with a free position shot with 6:00 remaining in regulation time, tying the game.
Geiger and Wiggins would answer the Hawks' rally with three goals to stifle any further comeback. Geiger concluded her evening with a four goal performance, leading the team in that category. Kynoch tallied two goals and two assists while Wiggins recorded a hat trick while adding a helper to also record a four point game.
Hawks goaltender Katherine Amato (Bedford, N.H.) drew the loss, her fourth of the season, despite making 12 saves on 24 shots on net. For the Falcons, Ally Dorman collected her 10th victory of the year, making eight saves on 17 shots on goal.
Saint Anselm returns to action Saturday, Apr. 28 as they face-off against the Chargers of the University of New Haven in a 1:00 p.m. contest. Stay up to date with the latest news directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by following the Hawks on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/STAHawks) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/STAHawks).
