Waltham, Mass. – In a matchup of two teams at the top of the NE10 standings, Bentley earned a 2-1 victory over Franklin Pierce on Saturday afternoon for its 4^th straight win.

Seniors Matt Tidona (Bellmore, N.Y./Friends Academy) scored in the first half and Julian Stewart (Acton, Mass./Acton-Boxborough) in the second half. Goalkeeper Nick Maldarella (Saint James, N.Y./St. John's) made six big saves and also claimed a number of crosses to prevent scoring chances.

The Falcons have now gone 16 games unbeaten in a row at home with a 12-0-4 record.

Bentley came into the game in 3^rd place in the standings with 15 points and Franklin Pierce in 2^nd with 18, now they will end the day tied in 2^nd with 18 points.

Maldarella came up with a couple of big early saves, first denying Antonio Ferreira in the 4^th minute and another shot by Ferreira in the 11^th.

Bentley then scored on its first shot of the game in the 13^th minute. The buildup saw Connor Mote (Lisle, Ill./Benet) win the ball in midfield and play a pass to Colby Gould (Exeter, N.H./Exeter) streaking down the left wing. Gould then played a centering pass into the box to Tidona on the edge of the six yard box, who then fired into the near post for the goal and a 1-0 lead.

Bentley held onto the lead the rest of the first half and into the second as Maldarella and a determined Falcons defense kept the Ravens attack at bay.

The second goal came in the 80^th minute from Stewart, his 6^th of the season. Junior Kyle Archambault (Uxbridge, Mass./St. John's) set the goal up after gaining possession after a Bentley throw-in in the attacking end. Archambault spun away from his defender and centered a pass to Stewart at the edge of the six yard box for a shot to the far post for the goal.

Though Franklin Pierce scored with under 30 seconds remaining, Bentley secured the win to improve to 6-1 NE10 and 8-3 overall.

Bentley will look to make it five wins in a row on Wednesday when they visit first place Adelphi for a 3:00 pm game.