WALTHAM, Mass. – Freshman
Ayla McDermod (Hanover, Mass.) scored four goals and sophomore
Alyssa Hill (Brookline, N.H.) added three, but the nationally ranked #24 Saint Anselm College women's lacrosse team fell on the road to #18 Bentley on Saturday night. The Hawks dropped to 8-2 overall and 3-1 in Northeast-10 Conference (NE10) play this season with the loss.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm is back home for another NE10 matchup against New Haven on Wednesday, April 2nd at 4:00 p.m. from Grappone Stadium.
Score: #24 Saint Anselm 9, #18 Bentley 13
Records: #24 Saint Anselm (8-2, 3-1 NE10), #18 Bentley (6-3, 3-1 NE10)
Location: Waltham, Mass. (Bentley University Turf Field)
Date: Saturday, March 29, 2025
Attendance: 280
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Maeve Johnson opened the scoring for Bentley a little over a minute in, and Amanda Davis doubled the lead for the Falcons midway through the first quarter.
- Senior Jaycie Balboni (Billerica, Mass.) got Saint Anselm on the board not long after with her 10th goal in the last four games, cutting the Bentley lead in half.
- With 36 seconds left in the period, Sophia Pope answered for the Falcons, scoring off a feed from Emily Hayward to make it 3-1.
- After winning the ensuing draw control, Hill found the back of the net for the Hawks to make it 3-2 with just 22 seconds left in the first.
- Early in the second, McDermod took over on offense for Saint Anselm. The midfielder scored two unassisted, player-up goals 41 seconds apart, giving the Hawks their first lead of the night at 4-3.
- At the other end just over a minute later, Johnson finished off a player-up goal for her second of the game for the Falcons and tied the score at 4-4.
- Bentley added three more goals in the final seven minutes of the first half, which allowed them to take a 7-4 lead at halftime. Pope, Natalia Dutkewych, and Caitlin Keenan each scored for the Falcons during that stretch.
- Johnson completed her hat trick early in the second half to extend the lead for Bentley. McDermod responded for Saint Anselm with her third goal as well to cut the deficit back down to three goals.
- Johnson continued to have her way offensively for the Falcons. She scored twice in under two minutes to increase her total to five for the game, which made it 10-5 in favor of the home team.
- Hill replicated that with two goals of her own in less than two minutes, which made it a 10-7 game.
- Late in the third quarter, Dutkewych helped the Falcons create some separation once again. She scored and then assisted Betsy Norko to put the home team back in front by five.
- Before the end of the third, junior Brianna Fruci (Walpole, Mass.) gave the Hawks some momentum with a player-up goal, which closed the gap to 12-8.
- McDermod found the back of the net for the fourth time early in the final quarter to bring the deficit back down to three goals, but that was the closest Saint Anselm got the rest of the game.
- Johnson put the exclamation point on the victory for Bentley with her sixth goal of the evening, making it 13-9. Neither side scored for the final 10 minutes of the game and the Falcons sealed the win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Bentley held a 36-28 advantage in total shots as well as a 24-15 edge in shots on goal.
- The Falcons also won the battle in the center circle with a narrow 14-12 lead in draw controls, 16-8 (53.8%). Sophomore Lucy Mawn (Harwich, Mass.) led the Hawks with six draw controls.
- Ground balls were nearly even as Bentley grabbed 17 compared to 15 picked up by Saint Anselm. Senior Elizabeth Driscoll (Marblehead, Mass.) scooped up three ground balls to lead the Hawks.
- The Hawks committed 13 turnovers in the game, while the Falcons had 12 giveaways. The Hawks defense caused five of those turnovers, while the Falcons defense forced nine turnovers.
- Bentley went 14-15 (93.3%) on clear attempts, while Saint Anselm went 15-21 (72.2%).
- The game was extremely physical and featured 17 penalties. The Hawks earned 10 penalties, while the Falcons were called for seven. There were six green cards and 11 yellow cards issued.
- As a result, there were six player-up goals scored in the contest with each team scoring three.
- McDermod led Saint Anselm with a team-high four goals. It was her fifth game with three or more goals this season. The freshman leads the squad with 26 goals and ranks second on the team with 27 points.
- Hill also recorded a hat trick for the Hawks, doing so for the third time this spring. She leads the team with 29 points on the season, coming from 16 goals and 13 assists.
- Johnson led Bentley with a six-goal performance. Dutkewych added two goals and three assists for the Falcons.
- Driscoll made 14 saves in the cage for the Hawks despite the loss.
- Ashlee Wargo stopped nine shots and earned the win between the pipes for the Falcons.
- This marked the 31st all-time meeting between these two programs. Saint Anselm falls to 4-27 overall against Bentley in the series that began in 2000.
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