WALTHAM, Mass. – Eighth-ranked Bentley University withstood the elements on a rainy, nasty Saturday afternoon to post a 12-8 win over Southern New Hampshire in Northeast-10 men's lacrosse. Junior Kevin Gould (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) led the way for the Falcons again with two goals and five assists.

Bentley dominated the first three quarters of action, leading 7-0 at halftime and 10-3 at the end of the third quarter. Tempers flared on both sides in the fourth quarter as eight penalties were called and the Penmen outscored Bentley 5-2, but it wasn't enough. The Falcons improve to 6-2 overall and 5-1 in the NE-10 with the win.

The first eight minutes of the game were scoreless, until junior Stephen Moulton (Danvers, Mass./Danvers) broke the ice with his first of three goals on the afternoon. Sophomore Mike MacDonald (East Falmouth, Mass./Falmouth) scored his first of the game at the 3:14 mark, then sophomore Steve Murray (Billerica, Mass./Billerica) added one just eight seconds later to give Bentley a 3-0 lead. Freshman Brendan Grant (Walpole, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) then found the back of the net with 36 seconds remaining in the opening quarter. Gould had the assist on three of the goals.

The Falcons added three more in the second quarter, including a man-up goal by Brad Tunis (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury).

Gould's second goal of the game at 12:31 of the fourth quarter gave Bentley an 11-3 lead, but then the Penmen scored three straight, with two coming from senior Sean Ball, to get back in the game at 11-6. MacDonald's second tally of the game with 6:51 left essentially put the game away for Bentley though.

The Falcons are off until next Saturday when they'll play at Assumption at 1:00 p.m.

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WALTHAM, Mass. – No. 8 Bentley University staked itself to a 7-0 halftime lead en route to a 12-8 Northeast-10 men's lacrosse victory over Southern New Hampshire University Saturday afternoon. The Falcons improved to 6-2 and 5-1 in NE-10 play with the win, while the Penmen are now 1-7 overall and 1-3 in the league.

Stephen Moulton led Bentley with three goals while Kevin Gould totaled two goals and five assists. Brad Tunis and Mike MacDonald each had two goals for the Falcons.

Sean Ball (Salem, NH) led Southern New Hampshire with three goals while Dustin Latham (Penacook, NH) and Keith Merluzzo (Billerica, MA) each had two goals and an assist while Terrence Nash (Oceanside, NY) totaled a goal and two assists.

Bentley opened the scoring with 6:26 left in the first quarter on a goal by Moulton. The Falcons would score three more times in the first, then scored three more times in the second to build a 7-0 halftime lead. Latham would get the Penmen on the board 20 seconds into the third quarter, but the Falcons would score the next three goals and a Gould tally with 2:23 left in the third quarter gave the hosts a 10-1 advantage.

Kris Dambach turned aside nine shots for Bentley in a complete-game effort in goal, while SNHU netminder Brendan O'Brien (Hopkinton, MA) made 13 saves as the Falcons generated a 39-22 shot advantage.

Southern New Hampshire returns to action Wednesday when it hosts Assumption College in a 7:00 game at Larkin Field.

2009-04-11