Waltham, Mass. – Senior MaryKate Staines (Gaithersburg, Md./Damascus) had a big game with three goals and three assists to help lead the Bentley women's lacrosse team to a 12-10 victory over visiting Merrimack on Tuesday. Bentley shut Merrimack out for the final 14-plus minutes, and scored three goals to pull away for the win.

Staines had three goals and two assists in the first half as the Falcons led 8-5 at halftime. They started fast with four goals after just over five minutes gone by, with two goals by Julia Glavin (Ipswich, Mass./Ipswich), and one by Caroline Boudreau (Foxborough, Mass./Foxborough) and Staines for an early 4-0 lead.

Merrimack broke up the run with a goal by Amber Feminella, but Bentley responded with two more goals in a row by sophomore Cara McCarthy (Salem, N.H./Central Catholic) and Staines to lead 6-1 after about 10 minutes gone by. The Warriors responded with a 3-0 run, but consecutive goals by Staines and a man-up goal by freshman Glenna Gies (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) gave Bentley an 8-4 lead with just over four minutes left in the half.

Merrimack got back in the game in the 2^nd half with a 5-1 run over the first 15 minutes, and a man-up goal by Feminella gave them a 10-9 lead with 14:46 remaining.

That, however, was Merrimack's final goal of the game as Bentley finished strong with three goals to pull ahead.

A man-up goal by Gies at 10:57 tied the game 10-10, and McCarthy scored just over two minutes later to give Bentley the lead for good at 11-10. Boudreau netted a man-up goal, with Staines on the assist, with 3:48 remaining for the final goal of the game.

Falcons goalie Eliza Bresler (Newton, Mass./Newton North) made eight saves to earn her 9^th win of the season.

Bentley improved to 9-3 overall and 7-3 NE10 with the victory. They are back at home on Thursday to host LIU Post at 3:00 pm in a makeup of a game that was postponed earlier in the season.