WALTHAM, Mass. – The Saint Anselm College women's lacrosse team, the No. 5 seed in the Northeast-10 Conference (NE10) Women's Lacrosse Championship, got out to a fast start and held on for an upset win over No. 4 seed and nationally ranked No. 20 Bentley in the Quarterfinals on Saturday by a final score of 10-9. Freshman
Ayla McDermod (Hanover, Mass.) scored three goals and added an assist in her first career playoff game as the Hawks picked up their first postseason win since 2023.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm advances to the NE10 Semifinals to take on nationally ranked No. 9 and No. 1 seed Pace on Wednesday, April 30th.
Score: Saint Anselm 10, No. 20 Bentley 9
Records: Saint Anselm (12-5), No. 20 Bentley (10-6)
Location: Waltham, Mass. (Bentley University Turf Field)
Date: Saturday, April 26, 2025
Attendance: 213
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- It was a dream start for Saint Anselm as they got out to a 5-0 lead in the first quarter. Senior Jaycie Balboni (Billerica, Mass.) got the Hawks on the board with the game's opening goal less than two minutes in, and McDermod added consecutive free-position scores to make it 3-0.
- Shortly after that, sophomore Alyssa Hill (Brookline, N.H.) and senior Samantha Rivet (Sudbury, Mass.) scored 39 seconds apart, which increased the lead to 5-0 for the visitors.
- Senior goaltender Elizabeth Driscoll (Marblehead, Mass.) had a strong first quarter in the cage for Saint Anselm. She made four saves, including one on a free-position chance, and the Hawks defense caused five turnovers in the opening 15 minutes of play.
- Bentley finally got on the board with nine seconds left in the first quarter. Amanda Davis converted with a free-position shot as the Falcons made it 5-1.
- The Falcons looked to further cut into the deficit early in the second quarter, but Natalia Dutkewych's shot hit the post.
- After a successful clear, the Hawks raced to the other end and got back to work on offense, resulting in the first collegiate postseason score by sophomore Lucy Mawn (Harwich, Mass.) that made it 6-1.
- Over the next few minutes, Saint Anselm continued to excel on defense. They caused two more turnovers and Driscoll made another pair of saves to preserve her team's five-goal advantage.
- Bentley started to put some good possessions together in the final six minutes of the first half. The Falcons went on a run of four unanswered goals to cut the deficit to 6-5. Davis scored twice for the home team during that stretch, while Dutkewych and Maeve Johnson also scored.
- With 1:09 left in the half, McDermod found the back of the net on another free-position shot. That completed her hat trick and gave the Hawks a 7-5 lead at halftime.
- The Falcons started the second half with the momentum after goaltender Ashlee Wargo denied a free-position shot by the Hawks. They quickly cleared and Dutkewych picked up another score that made it a one-goal game once again.
- Bentley continued to generate scoring opportunities and came close to tying the game, but Driscoll made three huge stops to keep Saint Anselm in front, 7-6.
- Late in the third quarter, the Hawks notched back-to-back goals to create some separation. McDermod set up senior Kendra Sabotka (Rutland, Vt.) and two minutes later during a player-up opportunity, Hill found sophomore Julia Rowley (Dover, N.H.) for a shot and score as Saint Anselm increased its lead to 9-6 entering the fourth.
- The start of the fourth quarter got out to a slow start as the two sides combined for six turnovers and just one shot on goal during the first six minutes. Saint Anselm capitalized on Bentley's stagnant offense with a goal of their own as Rowley picked up her second off another feed from Hill, extending the lead to 10-6 with 8:41 to play.
- Bentley responded with two straight goals after calling a timeout. Dutkewych assisted Davis on a goal before scoring another herself as the Falcons made it 10-8 with 5:10 left.
- With 1:38 remaining, Wargo made a clutch save on Rowley, allowing Bentley to regain possession down by a pair. However, Saint Anselm's defense held them without a goal until there was one second left on the clock. Johnson scored that one for the Falcons to make it 10-9, but they did not have enough time to find the equalizer as the Hawks held on for the win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Bentley held a 34-29 advantage in total shots to go along with a 16-13 edge in shots on goal.
- Saint Anselm maintained a slight lead on draw controls, 12-11. Mawn led the Hawks with five draw controls.
- The Hawks also led the ground ball battle, 19-15. Driscoll led Saint Anselm with a game-high six ground balls.
- Turnovers were even as both teams committed 16 in the contest.
- Defensively, the Hawks caused nine of those turnovers, while the Falcons forced eight turnovers. Junior Elyse Scales (Walpole, Mass.) led Saint Anselm with a single game career-high five of caused turnovers.
- On clear attempts, Bentley was 20-22 (90.9%) and Saint Anselm was 18-24 (75.0%).
- The Hawks had the upper hand on free-position shots, going 4-9 (44.4%) compared to the Falcons converting on only 2-8 (25.0%).
- The game featured seven total penalties with Bentley being called for six of them. There were two yellow cards and five green cards issued. Each team scored one player-up goal in the contest.
- McDermod led Saint Anselm with three goals, all of which came on free-position shots, and an assist for four points. It was her eighth hat trick of the season. She leads the team and is ninth in the NE10 with 44 goals on the year.
- Rowley scored twice for the Hawks, while Hill scored a goal and added two assists. Four other players scored once for the visitors. Hill currently leads the team and is ninth in the NE10 with 61 points this season on 27 goals and a team-best 34 assists, the ladder being tied for third in the conference.
- Three players combined to score all nine goals for Bentley. Davis led the Falcons with four goals, Dutkewych added three goals and two assists, and Johnson finished with two goals and an assist.
- Driscoll made 12 saves in the cage and posted a .571 save percentage for the Hawks in the win. She surpassed 500 saves for her career and now has 501 stops, the second-most in program history. Driscoll leads the NE10 and ranks third in NCAA Division II with a .541 save percentage (among goalies who have played at least 200 minutes).
- Wargo made nine saves and allowed 10 goals in the loss for the Falcons.
- This marked the 32nd all-time meeting between these two programs. Saint Anselm improves to 5-27 overall against Bentley in the series that began in 2000. It is the first postseason win for the Hawks since 2023, when they also beat the Falcons on the road in the NE10 Quarterfinals.
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