Josh Baker
Josh Baker

Bentley Defeats Franklin Pierce 6-3 on Senior Night

WALTHAM, Mass. – Two goals each from juniors Bobby Hinds (West Hartford, Conn./Conard) and Cutler Dimond (Marblehead, Mass./Tabor Academy), and 13 saves by goalie Josh Baker (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) helped the Bentley men's lacrosse team defeat Northeast-10 rival Franklin Pierce 6-3 on Saturday night.

Franklin Pierce scored the game's first goal from senior Alex Connolly seven minutes into the first quarter. But strong Bentley defense and the goaltending of Baker made that their last goal until the halfway point of the third quarter, almost 30 minutes without allowing a goal. By that time the Falcons had built a 5-1 lead. Franklin Pierce crept closer with two third quarter goals by midfielder Erik Kelly, but they did not score again and Bentley secured the victory.

After Connolly's goal for Franklin Pierce in the first quarter, Hinds and Dimond had goals 50 seconds apart to give Bentley the lead. The only goal of the second quarter came from junior Brendan Murphy (Wilmington, Mass./Middlesex School) with just eight seconds left. After a shot by Dimond was saved by Franklin Pierce goalie Don Denman, Murphy scooped up the loose ball and scored right in front of the net.

A man-up goal by sophomore Matt Brigham (Portsmouth, R.I./Portsmouth Abbey) and Dimond's second goal of the night inside the first five minutes of the third period gave Bentley a 5-1 lead. But Franklin Pierce got back in it with consecutive goals from Kelly, first at the 7:02 mark and then a man-up goal with 3:06 left in the quarter.

But Bentley was able to score the important next goal, coming in a man-up situation from Hinds with 4:51 left in the fourth quarter, giving them a 6-3 lead.

With the win, Bentley improves to 7-3 in the Northeast-10 and 7-5 overall. The Ravens fall to 4-6 in the NE-10 and 6-6 overall. The Falcons close out the regular season next Saturday at Adelphi for a 1:00 pm game.