Bentley Tops Pace 6-4 in Season Finale, Merrimack Up Next in Playoffs
WALTHAM, Mass. – The Bentley University men's lacrosse team ended its regular season with a 6-4 win over Pace Saturday afternoon in Northeast-10 play. The Falcons will host Merrimack in the first round of the NE-10 playoffs Tuesday night.
The key run in the game was a 3-0 spurt by Bentley in second quarter, giving them a 4-2 lead at halftime after they were trailing 2-1. Junior Richard Travers (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow) and sophomore Dan Keefer (Wayland, Mass./Wayland) scored just over a minute apart to give the Falcons a 3-2 lead, and senior Jared Kinch (Cohasset, Mass./BC High) found the back of the net with 1:20 left in the half.
Pace got the better of the third quarter, with goals from sophomore Michael Ruppert and junior Nick Ospina bookending a Steve Caditz (Merer Island, Wash./Mercer Island) goal for Bentley to make the score 5-4 for them going into the fourth quarter.
Keefer scored his second of the game at the 7:29 mark of the fourth, the only goal of the quarter.
The Falcons finish the regular season with an overall record of 7-6 and 7-3 in the NE-10, and they will be the fourth-seed in the NE-10 Tournament. Pace finishes at 5-9 overall and 2-8 in conference play and will miss the playoffs.
Box Score
At Pleasantville, N.Y.
Bentley (7-6, 7-3 NE-10) 1 3 1 1 -- 6
Pace (5-9, 2-8 NE-10) 1 1 2 0 -- 4
Scoring: P, Nick Ospina 1, Matt Gebhardt 1, Thomas Earl 1, Michael Ruppert; B, Dan Keefer 2, Richard Travers 1, Brendan Grant 1, Steve Caditz 1, Jared Kinch 1
Assists: P, John Kolesar 1, Ospina 1
Shots: P, 16; B, 34
Saves: P, Kevin Grady 17; B, Mike O'Neil 2
Ground Balls: P, 29; B, 35
Face-offs: P, 6-14; B, 8-14
Extra-man Opps: P, 0-2; B, 0-2