WALTHAM, Mass. – Junior
Colin Mulvey (Reading, Mass.) and sophomore
Chris Claflin (Newton, Mass.) both scored hat tricks, but the nationally-ranked No. 5 Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team suffered its first loss of the season to No. 12 Bentley on the road Friday night. Both teams now have 1-1 records on the season.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm returns home on Tuesday, March 5th, taking on Franklin Pierce University from Grappone Stadium at 4:00 p.m. in the team's Northeast-10 conference opener.
Score: No. 5 Saint Anselm 11, No. 12 Bentley 13
Records: No. 5 Saint Anselm 1-1, No. 12 Bentley 1-1
Location: Waltham, Mass. (The Turf Field)
Date: Friday, March 1, 2024
Attendance: 275
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Saint Anselm got out to a strong start in their first road game of the year by scoring the game's first three goals to take a commanding lead. Claflin scored his first of the game less than a minute in after the Hawks defense forced a turnover by the Falcons.
- 36 seconds later, senior Jake Davis (Franklin, Mass.) rang a shot off the pipe and Saint Anselm was buzzing with all the momentum early.
- After the Hawks defense forced another turnover on the Falcons, Mulvey put home his first goal of the season assisted by senior Noah Larsen (Northborough, Mass.) to make it a 2-0 game. Senior Nick Larsen (Northborough, Mass.) found the back of the net a few minutes later and with 3:35 left in the first quarter, Saint Anselm held a 3-0 advantage.
- Bentley finally got on the board with two minutes left in the first courtesy of a goal by Nathan Alviti. The Falcons added a man-up goal just over a minute later to cut the deficit to just one goal.
- Sophomore Quinn Gannon (Scituate, Mass.) won the ensuing faceoff, which led to Mulvey's second of the night assisted by Claflin with one second remaining in the first quarter to make it 4-2, Hawks.
- The Falcons opened the second quarter with a goal by Nicholas Thorn-Guillaro just 44 seconds in to pull them back within a goal. The Hawks responded by firing the game's next three shots on target, but Bentley goaltender Jackson Tinsley was up to the task and denied all three chances.
- After Davis hit the post for the second time in the half, Noah Larsen picked up the ground ball and finished off his first of the game to put Saint Anselm back in front by two goals. However, Devin Smith scored for Bentley just 17 seconds after the Falcons won the following faceoff to make it 5-4.
- Another win at the X by the Falcons gave them the offensive possession, but Hawks senior goaltender Anthony Kubik (Chicago, Ill.) made three saves in a 20-second span to help keep his team in front.
- With 5:33 to go in the half, Mulvey completed his hat trick with his third goal of the game, giving the Hawks a 6-4 advantage at halftime.
- 36 seconds into the second half, Thorn-Guillaro scored his second goal of the night for Bentley. Providing the answer for the Hawks on the offensive end was Davis with his first tally of the contest at the 13:02 mark of the third quarter to make it a two-goal game once again.
- After killing a slashing penalty, Bentley scored three quick goals to take their first lead of the game. Nick Harvath scored two straight before David Gagnon added the go-ahead marker for the Falcons with 8:20 left in the third quarter.
- Claflin got back to work on offense for Saint Anselm and ripped his second goal of the game to tie it at 8-8, but another goal by Alviti put Bentley ahead by one going into the fourth.
- For the third straight quarter, a goal was scored less than one minute into action. Claflin secured his second consecutive hat trick after netting his third of the game to tie it back up, 9-9, with 14:24 remaining. Noah Larsen scored for the Hawks a minute later and Saint Anselm regained the lead, 10-9.
- Bentley countered that with four straight goals of their own and stout defense helped them hold their three-goal advantage with under five minutes to play.
- With four minutes remaining, Saint Anselm earned a man-up opportunity after a slashing penalty by Bentley. The Hawks capitalized with another goal by Davis to make it a two-goal deficit, but they did not score again despite four shot attempts in the final two minutes and fell by a final score of 13-11.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Saint Anselm held a 45-38 advantage in shot attempts during the game. Both teams hit the post three times.
- Bentley held a huge edge in faceoffs, winning 19 out of 28 at the X. Fifth-year Craig Yannone (Lynnfield, Mass.) won six faceoffs out of 16 chances for the Hawks.
- The battle for ground balls was deadlocked at 32 apiece. Saint Anselm was a perfect 11 for 11 on clears, while Bentley was 19 for 20. However, the Falcons turned the ball over 20 times compared to just 12 giveaways by the Hawks. Both teams went one for two during man-up chances.
- Kubik made seven saves in goal for the Hawks, while Tinsley made 11 stops in the win for the Falcons.
- Claflin and Mulvey each scored three goals for Saint Anselm. It is the first career hat trick for Mulvey, who has now scored 21 goals in his career. Claflin and Noah Larsen (two goals and two assists) both had four point games, while Jake Davis added two points on a pair of goals.
- Harvath led Bentley with three goals, while Alviti, Gagnon, and Thorn-Guillaro all scored twice for the Falcons.
- This marked the 31st all-time meeting between these two programs. Saint Anselm is now 11-20 overall against Bentley and has suffered its first loss to the Falcons since 2019.
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