MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Matt Sanford (Stratham, N.H./Bow) scored four goals, but the Bentley men's lacrosse team dropped a 14-8 decision to Saint Anselm in Northeast-10 action on Saturday.

The Hawks led just 10-8 after the third quarter, but four goals over the final 15 minutes helped them pull away.

It took Bentley's offense most of the first quarter to get going, as Sanford scored the team's first goal with 55 seconds left in the opening quarter to cut into the Hawks' 3-0 lead.

The teams traded goals over the first seven minutes of the second quarter, but a goal by Sanford with 6:37 left in the second quarter started a 3-1 Falcons run to close out the half. Sanford scored his third goal of the half at the 2:17 mark, and sophomore Matt Brooks (Brunswick, Maine/Philips Exeter) scored at 1:28 to cut the Hawks' lead to 6-5 at halftime.

Bentley kept the run going at the start of the second half as Sanford's fourth goal of the afternoon just 12 seconds in tied the score 6-6.

The Hawks answered with two straight goals, including a man-up goal by Anthony Busconi at 10:44, but the Falcons answered back with two of the next three goals. Those strikes came off the sticks of Sam Hurley (Medfield, Mass./Medfield) and Liam Hogan (Rochester, N.Y./McQuaid), which made the score 9-8 for the Hawks at the 4:38 mark of the third quarter.

Saint Anselm though began to pull away in the fourth quarter. The hosts scored four goals in the first six-plus minutes of the quarter to open up a 14-8 lead. Griffin Shoemaker had two of the goals.

The Falcons dropped to 3-7 overall and 2-6 NE10, while the Hawks improved to 6-3 and 5-3 NE10. Bentley is back in action on Tuesday when they visit Adelphi.