WALTHAM, Mass. – Following a difficult trip to New Haven, the Bentley University Falcons will look to close out the season on a positive note when they host Saint Anselm College Saturday at noon as part of Northeast-10 Conference Championship Weekend. Kickoff for the Falcons' seventh home game of 2013 is 12 noon. Bentley finished the regular season as the sixth seed and Saint Anselm was number nine.

Saturday's 54-10 loss to New Haven dropped the Falcons to 5-5 overall, meaning they'll need a win this week avoid a rare sub-.500 season. Since the dawn of Bentley varsity football in 1988, there have been 22 winning records in 25 years.

Saint Anselm (1-9 overall) is coming off its first win of the season, 63-33 over Pace University, but the Hawks gave Bentley a battle about six weeks ago. In that one, the Falcons needed a 13-yard TD run from senior QB Danny Guadagnoli (Framingham/Framingham HS) with 2:42 left and a game-clinching interception from junior Nick McCarthy (Winthrop/ Winthrop HS) 76 seconds later to escape with a 32-27 win.

In a game that featured four lead changes, Bentley limited the Hawks to 221 yards of total offense but committed four turnovers, with two of those resulting in touchdowns, including a 22-yard fumble return that gave Saint Anselm a 27-26 lead with 5:52 left.

Guadagnoli amassed 309 yards of total offense against the Hawks, including a career-best 80 rushing. The Falcons also received a school record-tying four field goals from sophomore Michael Baron (Medfield/Roxbury Latin HS), 174 all-purpose yards from junior tailback Jet Kollie (Lowell/Lowell HS) and a team-leading ten tackles from McCarthy.

Guadagnoli, who eclipsed 3,000 yards total offense for the season in Saturday's game, has accounted for 22 touchdowns this season and has been directly involved in Bentley's last six (three rushing, three passing). He'll enter the season finale 397 yards total offense away from Ted Larkin's school record of 3,490, set in 1999.

Third in the conference in total offense with an average of 309.3, Guadagnoli has completed 59.9 percent of his passes for 2800 yards and has rushed for 293, second on the team to the injured Kollie's 541.

Junior All-Conference wide receiver Jeff Hill (Mansfield/ Mansfield HS) became the first Falcon in five years to post a 1,000-yard receiving season during Saturday's game and he's caught 10 TD passes for the second straight year. At least six players have caught a pass in each game this season, with senior Kent Kozar (Fairport, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit HS) a factor lately with a total of nine catches the last two weeks.

McCarthy will lead the 2013 Falcons in tackles as he'll enter Saturday's game with 74, 17 more than senior linebacker Taylor Tavarozzi (Berlin, Conn./Berlin HS) and 18 more than another senior LB, Kyle Young (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial HS). Young is coming off a ten-tackle effort against New Haven.

Senior defensive end Matt Campo (Dedham/Catholic Memorial HS) has a team-best nine tackles for losses and freshman safety Sam McDonald (Norfolk/King Phillip Reg. HS) is tied for the conference in interceptions with five, all coming in the last five games.

Despite their record, Saint Anselm has been able to put points on the board with the Hawks' 28.5 average sixth best in the NE-10. The Hawks inserted freshman Yianni Gavalas at quarterback three weeks ago and in his three starts, he's led the team to an average of 41.3 points, including 40 in a wild one-point loss to LIU Post and the 63 against Pace.

In that game, Gavalas turned in a Gold Helmet-winning performance as he completed an incredible 93.3 percent of his pass attempts, finishing 28 of 30 for 316 yards and six TDs. Thus far in his brief collegiate career, he's been on target 73 percent of the time while throwing for 1,155 yards and 11 TDs, with only four interceptions.

Senior running back Keith Charles is fifth in the NE-10 in rushing with 754 yards and he's also caught 54 passes for 661 yards. Wide receiver Justin Bernard, a junior, has reached the century mark in receptions with his average of ten a game third best in Division II.

Junior linebacker Isaac Jorgenson is the leading tackler (72) for a defense that gives up 534.1 yards and 44.5 points a game. The Hawks lead the NE-10 in interceptions with 19, including four by junior Tyrel McDonald.

Bentley's win against Saint Anselm last month was its 13th without a loss in the all-time series.

BENTLEY BRIEFS: Entering week 11 of the season, only ten players have started every game in a season that the Falcons have been riddled by injury. They are senior center Chris Cadigan (Stoughton/Boston College HS), Campo, senior defensive tackle Mike DiLegge (Scarsdale, N.Y./ Eastchester HS), junior tackle Jack Donovan (Shrewsbury/Worcester Academy), Guadagnoli, Hill, junior cornerback Brad Keirstead (Waltham/Waltham HS), Kozar, McCarthy and junior defensive tackle Bob Richman (North Attleboro/North Attleboro HS) … Freshman Mike Gardiner (Southlake, Texas/Southlake Carroll HS/Bedford (N.H.) HS) has emerged into a steady contributor the last three weeks, averaging 113 all-purpose running yards during that span. Included is an average of 20.8 yards on kickoff returns … Baron's field goal against New Haven was his ninth, a number exceeded only twice in program history … This will be Thom Boerman's 50th game as Bentley's head coach, with his record standing at 32-17 … Links for live stats and pay-per-view video will be available at www.bentleyfalcons.com.