Late Q4 Goals Help No. 9 Bentley Upset No. 4 NYIT

OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. – Fourth quarter goals by senior Brad Tunis (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury), junior Dante Mancini (Syosset, N.Y./Sysosset) and freshman James Reardon (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow) helped the ninth-ranked Bentley University men's lacrosse team hold on for an 11-10 upset of fourth-ranked NYIT on Wednesday afternoon in the season opening game for the Falcons.

With Bentley trailing 9-8 in the fourth quarter, Tunis scored the first of three unanswered goals to tie the game with 6:11 remaining. Mancini gave Bentley a 10-9 lead with 4:49 to play, followed by Reardon's third goal of the afternoon with 2:23 left.

NYIT's Kevin Hennessy scored with just 21 seconds left on the clock to cut Bentley's lead to 11-10, but the Falcons ran out the clock to secure the win.

Bentley led 4-1 after the first quarter and 7-3 at halftime on the strength of two goals each by Reardon, senior Kevin Gould (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) and junior Steve Murray (Billerica, Mass./Billerica). Sophomore Brendan Grant (Walpole, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) also had a first quarter goal to go along with three assists for the game.

It took until the final minutes of the third quarter, but NYIT began a furious rally, scoring five straight goals with three coming in the last 1:57 of the third. Senior Austin Carino had the first two, and Hennessy scored with seven ticks on the clock to make it a 7-6 game.

Carino and Hennessy scored early in the fourth quarter to give NYIT its first lead of the game with 11:40 left, but junior Mike MacDonald (East Falmouth, Mass./Falmouth) equalized for Bentley just 23 seconds later. Junior Thomas Anhthis gave the Bears the lead back with 9:34 to go before Tunis' goal started Bentley's run.

Senior goalie Andy Collette (South Hadley, Mass./South Hadley) made 15 saves for the win in his first start since his freshman season.

The loss is the first of the season for NYIT, who falls to 2-1 on the season. Bentley goes to 1-0. The Falcons are back in action on Saturday at No. 1 C.W. Post.

Bentley (1-0)   4   3   0   4   --   11
NYIT (2-1)      1   2   3   4   --   10

Goals
NYIT: Kevin Hennessy 3, Austin Carino 3, Bryan Gil 2, Thomas Anhthis 1, Ryan Amengual 1.
Bentley: James Reardon 3, Kevin Gould 2, Steve Murray 2, Brendan Grant 1, Brad Tunis 1, Mike MacDonald 1, Dante Mancini 1.

Assists
NYIT: Hennessy 3, Matt Sullivan 3, Anhthis 1.
Bentley: Grant 3, Gould 1, Stephen Moulton 1, Addi Van Hatcher 1.

Shots: NYIT, 52; Bentley, 30
Saves: NYIT, Chris Powers 9; Bentley, Andy Collette 15
Face-offs: NYIT, 19-25; Bentley, 6-25
Ground Balls: NYIT, 54; Bentley, 34

2010-03-10