MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior
Will Andrews (Cumberland, R.I.) recorded his first hat trick of the season to lead the nationally ranked #8 Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team to a 10-6 win over #10 Bentley in the team's home-opener on Saturday afternoon. Four student-athletes finished with multi-goal games for the Hawks, who held the Falcons scoreless for the first 43:29 of the game.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm hosts #17 Mercy in non-conference action on Saturday, March 15th at 12:00 p.m. from Grappone Stadium.
Score: #8 Saint Anselm 10, #10 Bentley 6
Records: #8 Saint Anselm (2-0), #10 Bentley (2-1)
Location: Manchester, N.H. (Grappone Stadium)
Date: Saturday, March 8th, 2025
Attendance: 347
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Bentley generated the first quality scoring chance of the afternoon a little over one minute in, but Garrett Witt's shot rang off the cross-bar and bounced out of play.
- It took awhile for the Saint Anselm offense to get going, but they got on the board first nearly five minutes into the game. Sophomore Mark Boyle (Reading, Mass.) beat his defender down the left alley and bounced a shot into the lower right corner that made it 1-0.
- With 2:29 left in the opening quarter, freshman Matt Lemay (Westminister, Mass.) caught a pass from freshman Ben Turpin (Groveland, Mass.) and fired a sidearm shot that beat the goaltender high for his first collegiate goal, which doubled the Hawks' lead.
- Boyle added his second goal of the game with 5:45 remaining in the second quarter. He created separation with a face dodge to his left hand before putting it back onto his right and finishing with another bounce shot that made it 3-0.
- Less than a minute later, the Hawks scored again as Andrews found some open space up top and beat the goalie high with a shot from about 15 yards out.
- Saint Anselm added another with two minutes left in the first half. Junior Maverick Lyon (Albany, Ore.) used a screen to open up some shooting space, and his left-handed bounce shot found the back of the net and gave the Hawks a five-goal lead.
- Sophomore goaltender Finn Granara (Reading, Mass.) made a pair of saves in the final minute of the half as the Hawks were in full control with a 5-0 lead at halftime.
- It was more of the same in the second half as Saint Anselm scored three unanswered goals to start the third quarter. Andrews scored the first two out of the intermission for the Hawks, both coming on bounce shots, as he secured the hat trick with 6:35 left in the third.
- Lyon added his second score a couple minutes later, which increased the Saint Anselm advantage to 8-0. He cut to the cage and received a pass from senior Colin Mulvey (Reading, Mass.) before ripping another low bouncer that beat the goalie five-hole.
- With 1:31 left in the third quarter, Bentley was finally able to get on the board as Brady Glass scored off a feed from Nathan Alviti, which made it 8-1.
- The Hawks answered with under a minute left in the quarter after getting an extra man opportunity following a slashing penalty on the Falcons. Junior Chris Claflin (Newton, Mass.) sent a cross-field pass through the defense to a wide open Turpin, who finished at the top of the crease to make it a 9-1 game heading into the final quarter.
- After another Bentley shot hit the pipe, Saint Anselm took it to the other end and scored their 10th goal of the day. This time, freshman Eddie O'Brien (Franklin, Mass.) drove down the right side, drew two defenders, and kicked it out to Lemay, who bounced in a shot from 16 yards out that made it 10-1 with 10:25 left.
- The Falcons finished the game with five unanswered goals in the final eight minutes, featuring three goals by Alviti, but the deficit was too steep as the Hawks picked up the win by a final score of 10-6.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Saint Anselm held a 39-34 advantage in total shots as well as a 19-13 edge in shots on goal over Bentley. The Hawks recorded 18 of their 19 shots on target in the first three quarters.
- Bentley maintained a slight 11-9 lead at the faceoff X. Junior Quinn Gannon (Scitutate, Mass.) led Saint Anselm by going 5-11 (45.5 percent) on faceoffs, while Dalton MacKinnon went 9-16 (56.3 percent) to lead Bentley.
- The Hawks dominated with a 32-22 edge in the ground ball battle. Freshman Johnny Lucas (Peabody, Mass.) led all players by scooping up six ground balls for the Hawks.
- Saint Anselm committed 20 turnovers in the game, while Bentley had 19 giveaways.
- The Hawks defense caused 14 of those turnovers, while the Falcons defense forced 12 turnovers. Lucas and junior Tyler Vigeant (Worcester, Mass.) led the Hawks with three caused turnovers apiece.
- Saint Anselm went 17 for 21 on clear attempts (81.0 percent) compared to Bentley's 14 successful clears out of 20 attempts (70.0 percent).
- The game featured only three penalties with the Hawks earning two and the Falcons earning one. Both sides scored once with the extra man advantage.
- Andrews led Saint Anselm with three goals for his first hat trick of the season and the second of his career. He led his team with four shots on goal and 10 total shots.
- Boyle, Lemay, and Lyon all scored twice for the Hawks. It was the eighth career multi-goal game for Lyon and the second straight two-goal performance for Boyle, while Lemay registered his first two collegiate scores.
- Turpin picked up a goal and an assist for the Hawks and Mulvey added a team-high two assists.
- Alviti led Bentley with three goals and two assists for a game-high five points. Three other players scored once for the Falcons.
- Granara made seven saves and posted a .538 save percentage in his sixth career win between the pipes for the Hawks.
- Jackson Tinsley made nine saves and allowed all 10 goals in the cage for the Falcons to earn the loss.
- This marked the 34th all-time meeting between these two programs. Saint Anselm improves to 14-20 overall against Bentley in the series that began in 1994.
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