WALTHAM, Mass. – The nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College women's lacrosse team was toppled by the Falcons from Bentley University on Thursday, 13-10, in the Northeast-10 Conference Divisional Finals.

The No. 21 team in NCAA Division II, according to the most recent Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division II Poll, Saint Anselm sees its season come to an end with an 8-3 overall record - the latest iteration of the official six-team NCAA rankings did not feature Saint Anselm.

The Falcons, who are No. 14 in the IWLCA poll, advance to the NE10 Championship game against Adelphi on Sunday, May 9 and head into the contest with an 11-2 record. The Hawks were able to defeat Bentley at Grappone Stadium earlier in the season, but Bentley secured two home-field victories over the Hawks on the way to the NE10 title game.

Trailing 8-3 at the halftime break, the Hawks marched back to tie the game at eight midway through the second period but in thanks to four late goals by Bentley, the Falcons secured a 13-10 victory to advance to the next round.

Sophomore Lexi Palmisano (Woburn, Mass.) scored a team-high five goals off 10 total shots, who was also named to the All-Tournament Team. Junior goalkeeper Grace Young (Merrimack, N.H.) also made 13 saves in the loss, facing a total of 26 shots. Senior Kelsey Czarnota (Wakefield, Mass.) posted a team-high five ground balls and three draw controls.

In a similar fashion to the regular-season contest between Saint Anselm and Bentley in Waltham, the Falcons took flight early with three straight goals to open play. Palmisano got the Hawks on the board with a tally at 16:42 but Bentley would respond with two goals, earning a 5-1 lead with 6:47 left in the opening frame. Palmisano would add another goal to the Hawks side, trimming the deficit to 5-2 but Bentley answered with three of four goals to finish the first 30 minutes.

At halftime, the shots were very close as Bentley led the category, 15-14, despite the Hawks only scoring three goals in the first half.

Palmisano took control out of the halftime break, scoring two goals in the first eight minutes with one coming on an extra-player opportunity. Sullivan followed suit with two of her own, cutting the deficit to one-goal with 18:14 remaining in the period. A minute later, Palmisano would end her scoring on the day to tie the match at eight.

Senior Caroline Villareal (Portsmouth, R.I.) secured the Hawks first lead of the game with a player-up opportunity at 16:51 off a dish from Sullivan. Bentley's Glenna Gies answered to tie the game up again at nine with her own extra-player tally.

Tied at nine, junior Jenna Balboni (Billerica, Mass.) put the Hawks back in front with a goal at 11:43 on a free-position shot. With 10 minutes remaining, Bentley took control with four straight scores to secure the victory getting two tallies off the stick of Julia Glavin.