WALTHAM, Mass. – With 17 minutes left  in the second half, it appeared that Bentley University was on its way to a win over unbeaten Stonehill College in a Northeast-10 Conference field hockey battle between teams ranked in the top ten of this week's Penn Monto/NFHCA Division II coaches' poll. The Falcons had a 2-0 lead and had not allowed a goal in more than 270 minutes of action.

However, a seven-minute barrage of four goals, including three in less than five minutes by Stonehill, left the two teams even at 3-3, and Stonehill went on to prevail in overtime, 4-3, on the strength of the third goal of the night by sophomore Erika Kelly (Watertown).

Stonehill, ranked fourth in Division II, improved to 9-0 overall and 2-0 in the conference while Bentley, number nine in the rankings, slipped to 6-3 and 1-1.

Junior Gina Lirange (Auburn/Auburn HS) helped spark the Falcons in the first half, assisting on both goals. She set up sophomore Sally James (Mequon, Wisc./Univ. School of Milwaukee) in the tenth minute and fed Meghan Talerman (Centerville/Barnstable HS), also a sophomore, on a penalty corner at 30:02.

The doors to the Bentley goal cage were opened when Kelly, Division II's leading scorer, was successful on a penalty stroke with 15:56 left. Less than a minute later, she deflected a shot from sophomore Elizabeth Thornton (Needham) into the cage and all of a sudden, the two teams were knotted at 2-2.

It stayed that way for about four minutes with Skyhawk sophomore Lauren Giordano (Watertown) giving her team the team with 11:03 left. Junior Emily Sideris (Watertown) fired a shot off a penalty corner, and it was re-directed by Giordano into the net.

Less than two minutes later, Bentley was awarded a penalty stroke and senior defender Melissa Martorelli (Holmdel, N.J./Holmdel HS) delivered, sending the ball past Skyhawk netminder Elizabeth Genovese (Street, Md.) to tie the game at three apiece. It was the second straight game Martorelli has been successful on a stroke attempt.

A little more than five minutes into the first extra session, Kelly took control of the ball just over midfield, beat the only defender and slid the ball past Bentley sophomore Katie Kelley (Walpole/ Walpole HS) for her sixth game-winner in nine games.

Kelley made three saves for Bentley and Genovese was credited with one for the visitors. Stonehill had the edge statistically, outshooting the Falcons 13-7 and attempting eight of the game's ten penalty corners.

Bentley will be back at home Sunday at 1 pm against Dowling College.