BENTLEY UNIVERSITY: Falcons shoot to upset of River Hawks

Junior Nicole Murphy clinched a 1-0 shootout victory for Bentley University over UMass-Lowell in Northeast-10 field hockey last night at Cushing Field after the two hottest teams in the conference battled through 100 scoreless minutes. Bentley prevailed in the shootout, 3-1.

The win was the eighth straight for the Falcons, who returned to the NFHCA Division II national rankings this week in the eighth spot and also climbed to second in the NCAA Division II North Region rankings. UMass-Lowell, ranked first in the region and fourth nationally, had won 11 in a row overall and 29 in a row against conference opponents.

Junior All-America goalie Alyssa Sliney was outstanding in goal for the Falcons, making 12 saves before stopping three of four UMass-Lowell penalty strokes in the shootout.

The first round in the shootout went to the River Hawks with Heather Woodward besting Sliney. Bentley junior Allison St. Jean evened it at 1-1 in the second round, and freshman Tori Bergantino put the Falcons on top with a successful stroke on the third round.

After both teams missed their fourth stroke, Murphy made hers to clinch the victory, Bentley's first in a shootout in nearly three years.

Sophomore Amy Carbon pitched the shutout for UMass-Lowell, making a total of nine saves, including four in the two overtime sessions.

The River Hawks (11-3, 11-1 NE-10) finished with a 20-17 advantage in shots and had six more penalty corners, 13-7.

Bentley, 9-5 overall and 9-3 NE-10, will return home to host Stonehill Saturday at 1 p.m.

Men's Soccer
Bentley 0, Stonehill 0
After 120 minutes, neither Bentley University or Stonehill could find the net, resulting in a 0-0 draw in yesterday afternoon's Northeast-10 men's soccer match. Sophomore goalie Michael Nikiforov was outstanding in net for Bentley, stopping 14 shots.

Bentley was put at a disadvantage in the 66th minute when senior Jon Marchetti was sent off for a red card, meaning the Falcons had to play the rest of the match with just 10 men.

Bentley had two good chances in the first overtime period. Just 1:25 into the extra period, junior defensemen Mike Pini took a header off a corner kick that required a save of Stonehill keeper Brian Guerrini. Bentley had another corner kick just 30 seconds later, and senior Chris Lipsett's header was saved again by Guerrini.

In the 104th minute in the second overtime, a header by freshman Ryan Miamis was saved by Guerrini, and on the same possession, Guerrini denied a shot by freshman Eric Heuze.

With the tie, Bentley's record moves to 4-6-2 overall and 1-5-2 in the Northeast-10. The Falcons' next game is Saturday at home against NE-10 newcomer New Haven. Kick-off is at 2:00 p.m.

Men's Basketball
Falcons 4th in Sporting News poll
The Bentley University men's basketball team, a remarkable 66-2 over the last two seasons, has been ranked fourth nationally in Division II preseason in The Sporting News College Basketball preview magazine.

Coach Jay Lawson's club, whose only two losses during the last two years came in the Elite Eight to Winona State, was listed behind South Carolina-Aiken, Findlay (Ohio) and Gannon (Pa.) in the magazine's top 10.

Also recognized by the magazine were two Bentley players, 6-4 senior Lew Finnegan and junior guard Jason Westrol. Both were amongst four Northeast-10 Conference players listed as honorable mention preseason Division II All-Americas, a distinction they shared with Le Moyne forward Laurence Ekperigin and Merrimack guard Darren Duncan.

Westrol and Finnegan were Bentley's top two scorers last year, with both players earning second-team All-Northeast-10 recognition. Westrol averaged 15.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.1 steals last winter while Finnegan's contributions included 13.9 ppg and 62 three-pointers.

They are two of 11 returning players from last year's 34-1 team. Also amongst the returnees are senior post Michael Sikonski and sophomore guards Mike Quinn and Tom Dowling. Quinn and Dowling each scored nearly eight points a game and Sikonski averaged 4.5 points.

Lawson will have to replace two of his key players from the last couple seasons, All-America forward Nate Fritsch and third-team All-Conference point guard Yusuf Abdul-Ali. Fritsch graduated with over 1,400 points, 700 rebounds and 200 assists to his credit, and Abdul-Ali was 68-3 in 71 career starts at the point.

Bentley, which has a Division II all-time record 54-game regular season winning streak going, will open in less than a month, with games against Minnesota State-Mankato, St. Martin's and Southern Indiana Nov. 7-9 at the Disney Division II Tip-Off Classic.