MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior
Colin Mulvey (Reading, Mass.) scored the game-winning goal 2:48 into overtime of the Northeast-10 Conference (NE10) Semifinals on Wednesday night, lifting the top-seeded Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team to a dramatic 10-9 victory over fifth-seeded Bentley. Before Mulvey's sudden-death winner, sophomore goaltender
Finn Granara (Reading, Mass.) made three clutch saves during the extra segment to keep the Hawks alive, helping them advance to the NE10 title game for the fourth time in program history.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm will host #2 seed and nationally ranked #4 Adelphi in the NE10 title game on Saturday, May 3rd at 1:00 p.m. from Grappone Stadium. Tickets can be purchased here. The NE10 Regular Season Champion Hawks are in search of their first conference postseason title.
Score: #4 Saint Anselm 10, #14 Bentley 9 (OT)
Records: #4 Saint Anselm (12-0), #14 Bentley (8-6)
Location: Manchester, N.H. (Grappone Stadium)
Date: Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Attendance: 550
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- After winning the opening faceoff, Saint Anselm got on the board first less than one minute into the game. Senior Joe Lombardi (Holliston, Mass.) got the ball behind the net, raced around the left side of the crease, and bounced a low shot just inside the near post to make it 1-0.
- Under a minute later, Bentley responded with two goals in 30 seconds. Garrett Witt set up Hunter Smith on both scores, giving the Falcons a 2-1 edge.
- The Hawks got one back just 53 seconds after that. Freshman Matt Lemay (Westminster, Mass.) caught a pass from junior Chris Claflin (Newton, Mass.) and let one fly from deep, finding the top left corner to even the score at 2-2.
- At the 9:53 mark of the first quarter, Saint Anselm regained the lead on a goal by senior Will Andrews (Cumberland, R.I.). He cut to the net and caught a difficult pass in traffic from junior Maverick Lyon (Albany, Ore.) before beating the goalie low right before the expiration of the shot clock to make it 3-2.
- The Hawks kept the offensive pressure on with four more shots on goal before the end of the first quarter, but none got by Falcons goaltender Jackson Tinsley as he kept his team down by just a goal.
- That allowed the visitors to tie it up once again at the other end. With 2:32 left in the first, Witt got the ball on the left side and dodged around a defender to create shooting space. He finished with a low bouncer on the run to tie the score at 3-3.
- The first five minutes of the second quarter went by without any scoring. At the 10-minute mark, Mulvey put Saint Anselm back on top with his first goal of the game. He came out from behind the cage on the left side and whipped a bouncing shot up and in to beat the shot clock buzzer.
- Bentley won the ensuing faceoff and countered with another goal 37 seconds later. David Gagnon went top shelf from straight out about 15 yards away, making it 4-4.
- Sophomore Evan Spillane (East Longmeadow, Mass.) got an opportunity to take the next faceoff for the Hawks and delivered to give his team possession. That helped Saint Anselm retake the lead as Andrews picked up his second goal of the night, beating the goalie with a shot below the head of the stick.
- The home team then doubled its advantage with about five minutes left in the half. After the Falcons failed to clear, Lombardi got the ball and beat his defender down the left alley. He finished with a high bounce shot that landed just underneath the cross-bar to make it a 6-4 game.
- Bentley was able to get the last goal of the half to cut the deficit to 6-5 going into halftime. With 2:21 remaining, Witt sent a pass out from behind the net to Will Adams, who finished with a bounce shot from the left side.
- Both defenses started to come alive to open the second half as neither side scored for the first 12 minutes of the third quarter. Bentley turned the ball over on their first five possessions of the period, three of which were caused by Saint Anselm.
- Midway through the third, Tinsley came up big for the Falcons, denying a pair of shots by Mulvey to keep it a one-goal game. At the other end, Witt set up Gagnon for a catch-and-shoot score from up top, which tied the score at 6-6 going into the fourth quarter.
- A minute into the final period, Bentley took its first lead since the first quarter. Brady Glass sent a cross-field pass over to Smith, who ripped one from up top and found the back of the net to make it 7-6.
- Saint Anselm's defensive unit stepped up in a big way after that, forcing three straight turnovers by Bentley to stay down by just a goal.
- The Falcons were then called for a pair of penalties with 9:08 left in the game, giving the Hawks a 6-on-4 advantage for 30 seconds. Lemay capitalized for the Hawks just before the expiration of the penalties, tying the score at 7-7 with a bounce shot to the lower right corner.
- With a little more than five minutes left, Bentley generated a quality scoring chance as Smith was wide open at the top of the crease. However, his effort was denied by a lunging Granara as the game stayed tied.
- After a successful clear, Saint Anselm regained the lead with four minutes to go. Lombardi caught a pass in the middle of Bentley's defense. He turned, fired, and beat Tinsley with another bouncing shot to put the Hawks in front, 8-7.
- Witt answered for the Falcons out of a timeout. He spun past his defender and tucked in a bounce shot of his own to make it 8-8 with 2:37 remaining.
- Saint Anselm got the ball back after Bentley committed a violation on the faceoff. With under two minutes left, Andrews took advantage of a short stick defender, driving to the net with ease and finishing to give the Hawks a 9-8 edge.
- The Falcons did not quit as they won the ensuing faceoff to ensure one last chance to tie it back up. With less than a minute remaining, Nathan Alviti launched a shot from way outside that beat Granara five-hole, tying the score at 9-9 and forcing overtime.
- Bentley won the opening faceoff of the sudden death overtime period. Gagnon fired a shot on goal for the Falcons, but Granara blocked it down. Smith collected the rebound at the top of the crease and had a chance to end the game from point blank range, but Granara made an unbelievable save on the follow-up attempt to keep the Hawks alive.
- The Hawks netminder made another clutch stop a minute later. At the other end, Mulvey went to his signature move, sprinting from behind the net to the left side and finishing with a bounce shot to give Saint Anselm a thrilling 10-9 overtime win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Saint Anselm dominated with a 45-24 lead in total shots to go along with a 22-16 edge in shots on goal.
- Bentley controled the center circle with a 14-9 advantage (60.9%) at the faceoff X. Junior Quinn Gannon (Scituate, Mass.) led Saint Anselm with six faceoff wins, while Spillane went 3-6 (50%) on draws for the Hawks.
- Ground balls were nearly even with Saint Anselm maintaining a slight 37-36 lead. 11 players picked up multiple ground balls in the game for the Hawks.
- The Falcons committed 28 turnovers in the game compared to 19 committed by the Hawks.
- Defensively, the Hawks defense caused 15 of those turnovers, while the Falcons defense caused 10 giveaways. 12 different players logged a caused turnover for the home team.
- On clear attempts, Saint Anselm went 14-17 (82.4%) and Bentley went 19-31 (61.3%).
- There were three penalties in the contest, all called on the Falcons in the fourth quarter. As a result, the Hawks went 1-3 on extra man opportunities.
- Andrews and Lombardi each scored three goals in the game for Saint Anselm. It was Lombardi's first hat trick of the season and the sixth of his career.
- Lemay and Mulvey added two goals apiece for the Hawks, with Lemay also producing an assist. It was the 11th straight multi-goal game for Lemay and the sixth straight for Mulvey. Lemay leads the team and is 10th in the NE10 with 30 goals this season, while Mulvey is second on the squad with 26 goals.
- Witt led Bentley with two goals and four assists for a game-high six points. Smith scored three goals and Gagnon added a pair of scores and an assist for the Falcons.
- Granara earned his 11th win of the season for the Hawks after making seven saves in the cage, three of which came in overtime.
- Tinsley made 12 saves and allowed 10 goals in the loss for the Falcons.
- This marked the 36th all-time meeting between these two programs. Saint Anselm improves to 16-20 overall against Bentley in the series that began in 1994. The Hawks have now won the last five games against the Falcons dating back to last season, including three this year.
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