COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's lacrosse team lost to nationally-ranked Bentley University, 17-11, on Sunday during both teams' Northeast-10 Conference openers on Duffy Field. The Purple Knights tied for fifth in the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (NEILA) preseason poll, while the Falcons were 16th in the latest USA Lacrosse Magazine national rankings and 18th in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) national poll. Bentley was second in the NEILA preseason rankings.

RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (0-3, 0-1 NE10), Bentley (2-0, 1-0 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Sophomore Spencer Scardino (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna), career-high 20 saves, 2 ground balls
• Junior Max Katavolos (Newburyport, Mass./Newburyport), 2 goals, 2 assists, 4 ground balls
• First-year Cristian Reyes (Norwood, Mass./Xaverian Brothers), 2 goals, 2 ground balls
• Sophomore Kevin Riggs (Plainville, Mass./King Philip Regional), 2 goals
• First-year Sebastian Simonson (Spruce Grove, Alberta/Spruce Grove Comprehensive), 2 goals
• Senior Kyle Hirshom (Walpole, Mass./Walpole), 1 goal, 1 assist
• Junior Alex Chirgwin (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury), 1 goal
• Junior Drew Collins (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna), 1 goal
• First-year Cooper Wilson (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna), 8 faceoff wins
• Sophomore Nathan Woods (Ottawa, Ontario/Kent School), 6 ground balls
• Sophomore Maxwell Eliason (Salt Lake City, Utah/East), 2 ground balls, 2 caused turnovers
• Sophomore Cam Steuer (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga Springs), 3 ground balls

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Junior Luke Jaber, 6 goals
• Senior Ben Baldasaro, 2 goals, 3 assists
• Senior Keaton Roarick, 13 saves, 2 ground balls
• Junior Jake Tyska, 14-for-19 faceoffs, 8 ground balls
• Sophomore Cam Bartolomeo, 9-for-12 faceoffs, 6 ground balls
• First-year Alex Parton, 6 ground balls, 2 caused turnovers

GAME FACTS

• Reyes scored the first two goals of his career, on two shots.

THE ACTION

• Hirshom's strike with 7:23 left in the opening quarter was the game's first goal, but three Falcons scored during a 3-0 response that took 2:56 to elapse, and Bentley led 3-1 at 3:55.
• Riggs tallied back-to-back goals with 10 seconds to go and at 11:50 of the second period to level the teams.
• Baldasaro gave Bentley a 6-4 lead by 6:28, but Simonson scored off of a Katavolos feed 18 seconds later, and Collins tied the game once more at 4:54.
• Tyska won the ensuing faceoff and scored just six seconds after Collins, and Jaber pushed the lead to 8-6 with 32 seconds left.
• Katavolos halved the deficit at 6.5 seconds, but Tyska dished to Jaber for a buzzer-beating goal that gave Bentley a 9-7 edge at halftime.
• Jaber scored twice in the third quarter to continue what became a 5-1 run by the final stanza, with senior Clay Moseman giving the Falcons a 13-8 advantage at 10:32.
• Chirgwin (9:05) and Simonson (8:28) scored 37 seconds apart to draw Saint Michael's within 13-10, but Bentley pulled away with four of the last five goals.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Wednesday vs. Lake Erie (Ohio) College, 3 p.m.
• Lake Erie received votes toward both national polls this week.