WALTHAM, Mass. – Bentley University's four game winning streak came to an end on Sunday afternoon as Merrimack upended the Falcons 17-16 in Northeast-10 women's lacrosse. Bentley trailed 17-14 midway through the second half and cut its deficit to 17-16 with 7:26 to play, but couldn't find the equalizer.

With Bentley trailing 14-13, a man-up goal by junior Jaclyn Griffin (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) tied the score with 20:18 left. Merrimack though answered back with three straight. Senior Lauren Leddy scored on a free-position shot, and freshman Colleen Strachan and sophomore Christina McCarron scored unassisted goals 48 seconds apart to give the Warriors a 17-14 lead with 15:15 remaining.

Griffin scored her fifth goal of the game in a man-down situation with 11:03 left to make the score 17-15. Senior Kim Morris (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga Springs) then scored a man-up goal to get the Falcons to within one goal, but the tying goal proved to be elusive.

Bentley's best chance to tie came when senior Alyssa Ritchie (North Andover, Mass./North Andover) hit the post on a shot with 2:37 to go.

After Bentley jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, Merrimack took the lead back from Bentley for good with a goal by McCarron, giving the Warriors a 5-4 advantage with 13:27 left in the first half.

The Falcons were forced to play catch-up from then on but just couldn't pull ahead. After falling behind 10-7 late in the first half, two goals from Griffin and one by Ritchie pulled Bentley even. Merrimack though scored the final two goals of the half to lead 12-10 at the break.

The teams traded goals to begin the second half, making the score 14-12 in favor of Merrimack. Tallies by Ritchie and Griffin tied the game, but Merrimack stayed ahead for good with the aforementioned three in a row.

McCarron had a game-high six goals for the Warriors, while junior goalie Jamie Whiteway came up big with 13 saves. Ritchie and Griffin each had a team-high five goals for Bentley.

Bentley, who falls to 8-7 on the year and 6-2 in the NE-10, will next travel to first place Stonehill on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. before closing out the regular season two nights later at home against Saint Anselm.

2009-04-19