WALTHAM, Mass. – Bentley University had the ball and a man-advantage trailing 9-8 in the final minute, but could not convert as Saint Anselm held on for the victory over the men's lacrosse team in Northeast-10 action Wednesday night.

Sophomore attack Matt Dente (Reading, Mass./Reading) brought the Falcons to within 9-8 by scoring with 1:02 to play, and a penalty was called on Saint Anselm as well to give them a man-advantage with a chance to tie the game.

Bentley won the face-off and called timeout with 41 seconds left to setup the final play. Junior Nick Astarita (Bedford, N.H./Bishop Guertin) got a shot off with 19 seconds remaining, only for it to be saved by Hawks goalie Jonathan O'Reilly. Saint Anselm then cleared the ball and ran out the clock to hang on for the victory.

The loss drops Bentley's record to 1-3 overall and 1-2 in the NE-10, while the Hawks improve to 2-3 overall and 2-1 in the NE-10.

The Falcons trailed 6-4 at halftime, but outscored the visitors 3-0 in the third quarter to lead 7-6 heading into the final quarter. All the scoring was done in the first eight minutes of the period, and came from players scoring their first of the season. Sophomore Bobby Hinds (West Hartford, Conn./Conard) scored at the 13:18 mark, sophomore defenseman Connor Raffety (Mercer Island, Wash./Mercer Island) tied the game at six with 8:11 left in the quarter, and junior Steve Taylor (Mercer Island, Wash./Mercer Island) gave his team a 7-6 lead just 51 seconds later.

But Saint Anselm then scored three in a row of its own in the fourth quarter. Geoff Kennedy tied it at seven 1:24 into the quarter and Andrew Messner gave the Hawks an 8-7 lead at the 11:52 mark. They then went up 9-7 on a goal by James Peters with 6:36 to go after a turnover in front of the net.

Astarita led the Falcons with two goals, while Saint Anselm's Ryan Mee had a game-high three.