RINDGE, N.H. – Franklin Pierce slipped past Bentley in a tight game 9-7 in the Northeast-10 men's lacrosse opener for both squads on Friday night. Junior Matt Brigham (Portsmouth, R.I./Portsmouth Abbey) had a hat trick for Bentley.

Two second half runs by Franklin Pierce ended up being the difference. A 4-0 run that stretched from midway past the third quarter to midway past the fourth, and a 2-0 run in the final minutes.

A low scoring, 3-2 game in favor of the Ravens at halftime, Bentley scored twice early in the third quarter. Brigham's second of the game just 42 seconds in tied it at three, followed by a goal from freshman Joe DiRaimo (Huntington, N.Y./John Glenn) that gave the Falcons their first lead since the first quarter.

Neither team scored for another six minutes, but a goal by Franklin Pierce's Erik Kelly at the 5:31 mark kick started a 4-0 run. By the end of the third quarter, the Ravens led 6-4.

Franklin Pierce's Sean Delea netted a man-up goal just 20 seconds into the fourth quarter to make it 7-4. Neither team scored again for more than nine minutes, until a man-up goal by Bentley's Bobby Hinds (West Hartford, Conn./Conard) got them back in the game. Just 42 seconds later, it was senior Matt Dente (Reading, Mass./Reading) scoring for Bentley to get them to within 7-6 with 5:03 to play.

But the Ravens scored the next two goals. Frist from Brenden Caldeira at the 2:24 mark, and then from Erik Kelly with 59 seconds remaining to make it 9-6 for Franklin Pierce.

Bentley won the ensuing face-off and Brigham quickly scored with 44 seconds left to make it 9-7, but there wasn't enough time to finish the comeback.

Franklin Pierce improves to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the NE-10, while the Falcons drop 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the NE-10. The team's next game is next Saturday at home against Saint Rose.