WALTHAM, Mass. - The Saint Michael's College women's lacrosse team trailed 20th-ranked Bentley University by one goal with fewer than 13 minutes remaining during an eventual 13-9 loss on Wednesday during Northeast-10 Conference play at Bentley's turf field. The Purple Knights slipped to 3-6 overall and 3-5 in the league as they kicked off a three-game stretch exclusively against nationally-ranked foes. The Falcons, whose ranking is according to the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA), are 7-4 and 6-3.

Junior Steph Bonewald (New London, N.H./Proctor Academy) notched a hat trick, an assist, two ground balls and two draw controls for Saint Michael's, while senior Courtney Piper (Wolfeboro, N.H./Brewster Academy) turned in two goals, an assist and three ground balls. Classmate Melissa Jaskiewicz (Kensington, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) scored twice while totaling a career-high eight draw controls and three ground balls, and sophomore Paige MacKinnon (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) had a goal, an assist and four draw controls. Senior Kate Boyer (Standish, Maine/Bonny Eagle) tacked on a goal, and sophomore Grace Gunning (Norwell, Mass./Norwell) made 12 saves. The Purple Knights corralled 18 of the game's 24 draw controls.

Senior Jackie Brown (Brookfield, Conn./Brookfield) scored five times for Bentley, and sophomore Ellie Shuman (Nashua, N.H./Nashua North) notched a hat trick. Classmate Hannah Lindgren (Southboro, Mass./Algonquin Regional) scored twice, sophomore Taylor Lunden (Agawam, Mass./Agawam) posted a goal and an assist, and classmate Lauren Ochs (Rochester, N.Y./Irondequet) made seven saves.

Bonewald found the back of the net just 46 seconds after Jaskiewicz won the opening draw to put the visitors ahead during a back-and-forth opening half before Brown knotted the game at 27:38. MacKinnon gave Saint Michael's the lead back with 24:51 before Bonewald fed Jaskiewicz 1:54 later, and the Purple Knights held a 3-1 advantage. Bentley countered with the next three tallies, with Brown first scoring 50 seconds after Jaskiewicz's marker and Lunden making it 4-3 by 16:26.

Boyer and Bonewald scored 56 seconds apart to reestablish a Purple Knight lead, 5-4, with 11:37 remaining, but the Falcons went back in front just 1:15 later thanks to goals by Brown and Lindgren. Piper responded to a Bentley free-position goal with one of her own at 5:53 to bring Saint Michael's within 7-6, but Brown scored 39 ticks later, and Shuman scored 23 seconds before halftime. The Falcons led 9-6 by intermission.

The Purple and Gold netted the first two markers of the second stanza, as Piper tallied off of MacKinnon's pass at 28:04 before Jaskiewicz made it a one-goal affair 2:54 after that. Lindgren pushed the Falcon lead back to two with 18:33 remaining, but Bonewald again created a one-goal margin with 12:55 left. However, Brown countered 38 seconds later to kick off a game-ending 3-0 run, which included a pair of free-position tallies, and Saint Michael's was unable to fire off another shot until a Purple Knight rung the post with 1:07 left with her team trailing 12-9.

Saint Michael's heads to No. 6 Stonehill College on Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest.