WALTHAM, Mass. – Senior Dan Keefer (Wayland, Mass./Wayland) recorded a hat trick as the Bentley men's lacrosse team got back in the win column with a 14-12 victory over Southern New Hampshire Wednesday night.

Keefer was one of five Bentley players to score at least two goals, as the Falcons continued their dominance over Southern New Hampshire. They have now beaten the Penmen all 22 times the two programs have met.

Bentley led 14-9 with 9:49 left in the 4^th quarter after Keefer's third of the game. Bentley did not score the remainder of the contest, and though the final result was never in much doubt, the Penmen scored three times in the final 2:41 and twice in the final minute to provide the final score.

The Penmen jumped out to a 2-0 lead after eight minutes in the opening quarter on goals by Rob Murray and Cameron Joyce. But Bentley erased that deficit with three goals in the final 4:02 of the quarter, with senior Tim Matheson (Reading, Mass./Reading Memorial) giving them a 3-2 lead with 12 seconds left. They would not trail again.

Southern though trimmed a 7-4 halftime deficit to 8-6 midway through the third quarter after a goal by Murray, who had four on the night. But a 4-1 run by Bentley after that point pushed their lead to 12-7 after a man-up goal by junior Mike Carter (Walpole, Mass./Thayer Academy) 27 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Southern responded with two straight goals, making the score 12-9 with 11:53 to play. But goals by sophomore Matt Dente (Reading, Mass./Reading Memorial) and Keefer less than a minute apart gave the Falcons a 14-9 lead.

Freshman goalie Jarrod Dillon (Braintree, Mass./St. Sebastian's) made his second straight start and made nine saves to earn his first career win.

Bentley improves to 3-7 overall and 3-6 in Northeast-10 play, while Southern drops to 5-8 overall and 5-4 in conference games.