MANCHESTER, N.H. – The No. 2 seed Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team cruised to a 17-12 victory over No. 7 seed Bentley in the First Round of the 2025 NCAA Division II Men's Lacrosse Championship on Wednesday. Five student-athletes recorded multiple goals in the win for the Hawks, who defeated the Falcons for the fourth time this season to advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the third year in a row.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm advances to the NCAA Division II Men's Lacrosse Championship Quarterfinals, where they will host No. 3 seed Seton Hill on Sunday, May 11th. The game is set for a 1:00 p.m. start time from Grappone Stadium.
Score: No. 2 Saint Anselm 17, No. 7 Bentley 12
Records: No. 2 Saint Anselm (13-1), No. 7 Bentley (8-7)
Location: Manchester, N.H. (Grappone Stadium)
Date: Wednesday, May 7, 2025
Attendance: 334
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Bentley won the opening faceoff to start the game and long poll Alex Parton scooped up the ground ball. He sprinted straight towards goal and fired a sidearm bounce shot that found the back of the net and gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead just 10 seconds in.
- The visitors doubled their advantage a couple minutes later. David Gagnon ran past the defense and scored while falling to ground, making it a 2-0 game.
- Saint Anselm got on the board with their first goal less than a minute after that. Junior Charlie Dean (North Andover, Mass.) drew two defenders and dished to sophomore Mark Boyle (Reading, Mass.), who beat the goalie with a shot to the weak side to cut the deficit in half.
- Midway through the first quarter, the Hawks tied the score at 2-2. Freshman Eddie O'Brien (Franklin, Mass.) drove down the right alley, spun back to his left, and bounced a shot off the turf that made its way into the back of the cage.
- After winning the ensuing faceoff, Bentley took it down to their offensive end and regained the lead as Will Adams split the defense and went low to high with his shot, making it 3-2.
- Saint Anselm started to generate some solid looks on offense in the final few minutes of the opening period. The Hawks saw three shots stopped by Falcons goaltender Jackson Tinsley, and freshman Ben Turpin (Groveland, Mass.) also rang a shot off the post.
- With a little over a minute left in the first, the Hawks tied it once again. Freshman Matt Lemay (Westminster, Mass.) set up senior Will Andrews (Cumberland, R.I.) with a catch-and-shoot from the left side, making it 3-3.
- Sophomore goaltender Finn Granara (Reading, Mass.) made a pair of saves for Saint Anselm in the final few minutes of the quarter as the score remained tied entering the second.
- The Hawks took their first lead of the day early in the second quarter. Some quick ball movement resulted in senior Joe Lombardi (Holliston, Mass.) finding junior Maverick Lyon (Albany, Ore.) just outside the crease, and his bouncer beat Tinsley to make it 4-3.
- Lyon struck again just over two minutes later. This time, the attacker wrapped around a screen and caught a pass from Dean before picking out the lower right corner to put Saint Anselm in front by a pair.
- 39 seconds after that, the Hawks increased their lead to 6-3 as O'Brien picked up his second goal of the afternoon. The freshman dodged to his right hand, drove hard to goal, and scored on the run, forcing a timeout by the Falcons with 9:35 left in the first half.
- Out of the timeout, Granara made another save for Saint Anselm and at the other end, the scoring continued for the home team. Andrews notched his second score of the day, finishing into the bottom left corner with a shot on the run to make it 7-3.
- The Hawks built on their momentum over the next five minutes and outshot the Falcons over that span, 5-1. Lyon had a shot hit the cross-bar, while Andrews also hit the post during that stretch.
- Bentley withstood the pressure and eventually ended their more than 18-minute scoreless drought with 2:40 left in the half. Garrett Witt sent a pass through the crease to Charlie David, who finished on the other side to cut the deficit back down to three goals for the Falcons.
- After a turnover by the Hawks, the Falcons scored again with 44 seconds left in the quarter. David received a pass from Hunter Smith and scored a spinning, no-look goal that gave the visitors some life and made it 7-5.
- Saint Anselm finished the first half strong by scoring with just eight seconds remaining. Junior Colby Goodchild (Reading, Mass.) intercepted a Bentley pass near midfield and took it all the way, eventually scoring through two defenders for his first collegiate goal to give the Hawks an 8-5 lead at halftime.
- Bentley started to close the gap early in the second half. Saint Anselm saw a player sent off with a tripping penalty and the visitors capitalized during the extra-man opportunity as Adams launched one past Granara from deep up top. 48 seconds later, the Falcons made it a one-goal game as Smith wrapped around the right side of the crease and went five-hole.
- The visitors had a chance to tie the score after getting another man-up chance, but Granara made a timely save that helped the Hawks kill the penalty.
- Midway through the third quarter, Saint Anselm was awarded an extra-man opportunity of their own after Bentley was called for slashing. The Hawks took advantage with their first goal of the second half as junior Jared Leonard (Rowley, Mass.) found senior Colin Mulvey (Reading, Mass.), who sniped the top right corner to make it 9-7.
- The Hawks increased their lead to 10-7 shortly after as Turpin drew a double team and kicked to Lemay, who went low to beat the goalie for his first goal of the game.
- With a minute left in the quarter, Goodchild forced another turnover on the defensive end for the Hawks. He threw the ball ahead to freshman Johnny Lucas (Peabody, Mass.), who caught it at midfield and lobbed another pass forward. Lemay caught it off the bounce, drove towards goal on an odd-man rush, and scored while flying through the crease to put his team ahead, 11-7.
- The Falcons answered right back, scoring twice inside the final 40 seconds of the third. Goals by Gagnon and Smith helped Bentley trim the deficit to 11-9 entering the fourth quarter.
- Saint Anselm extended the lead back up to four goals with a pair of scores within the first two minutes of the final quarter. O'Brien and Lemay both scored from long range to complete their hat tricks.
- The Hawks nearly scored again after that, but Tinsley kept the Falcons in the game with some clutch stops. At the other end, Smith scored two in a row for the visitors to make it 13-11 with under six minutes to go.
- Junior Quinn Gannon (Scituate, Mass.) won the ensuing faceoff for Saint Anselm. After picking up the ground ball, he saw an opening, ran towards the cage, and bounced one past Tinsley for his second goal of the year that made it 14-11.
- The Hawks added a few insurance goals over the next couple of minutes to all but seal the win. Turpin set up Andrews for his third goal of the day and two minutes later, Turpin got in on the scoring with his first career postseason goal off another assist from Leonard.
- Tinsley then vacated the net as the Falcons were attempting to double team to steal the ball back, but that resulted in Boyle tossing a shot into the empty net for his second of the afternoon, making it 17-11 in favor of the Hawks.
- Adams registered a man-up goal for Bentley with under a minute remaining, but Saint Anselm secured the win by a final score of 17-12 to advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the third straight season.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Saint Anselm held a 44-30 lead in total shots as well as a 27-20 edge in shots on goal.
- Faceoffs were a bit more even, but the Hawks maintained a slight 18-15 lead in that area as well. Gannon went 14-24 (58.3%) at the faceoff X to lead the Hawks.
- Saint Anselm also finished with a 44-35 advantage in ground balls. Gannon had a game-high 12 ground balls and was one of seven Hawks to pick up at least three.
- Bentley committed 16 turnovers in the game compared to 14 committed by Saint Anselm.
- Defensively, the Hawks caused 10 of those turnovers, while the Falcons caused seven giveaways. Sophomore Nate Johnson (Reading, Mass.) posted a game-high three caused turnovers for the Hawks, which was a new career-best.
- Saint Anselm was nearly perfect on clear attempts, going 20-21 (95.2%). Bentley went 16-21 (76.2%) on clears.
- There were nine penalties called in the contest. The Hawks were called for three and the Falcons were whistled for six.
- Both teams scored twice during extra-man opportunities. The Falcons went 2-3 (66.7%), while the Hawks went 2-6 (33.3%).
- Lemay led Saint Anselm with three goals and an assist for a team-high four points. It was his 13th straight multi-goal game and also marked his eighth hat trick of the year. He leads the team and is tied for fourth in the NE10 with 36 goals this season, while his 48 points also lead the team and are tied for seventh in the conference.
- Andrews and O'Brien scored three goals apiece for the Hawks. It was the third hat trick in the last four games for Andrews, who is now third on the sqaud with 21 goals this season. It was the second career hat trick for O'Brien, who now has nine goals and nine assists on the campaign.
- Boyle and Lyon each scored twice for Saint Anselm. Four other players scored for the Hawks, including Goodchild, who registered his first career goal.
- Four Hawks notched two assists in the game: Dean, Leonard, Lombardi, and Turpin.
- Smith produced game-highs of four goals and five points to lead Bentley. Adams added three goals and an assist, while David and Gagnon each scored twice for the Falcons.
- Granara made eight saves and picked up his 12th win of the season between the pipes for the Hawks.
- Tinsley made 10 saves and allowed 17 goals in the cage for the Falcons in the loss.
- This marked the 37th all-time meeting between these two programs. Saint Anselm improves to 17-20 overall against Bentley in the series that began in 1994.
- The Hawks have now won the last six games against the Falcons dating back to last season, including four this year. Saint Anselm has now beaten Bentley in the NCAA First Round in consecutive seasons.
- With the win, Saint Anselm advances to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the third straight year. They picked up the fifth NCAA postseason victory in program history.
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