The Bentley Falcons men’s basketball team’s recent play has inspired thoughts of another conference title, as its record of 14-5 overall and 10-5 in the NE-10 leaves the team tied for third place heading into its next game.

The Falcons completed the non-conference portion of their schedule in December, posting an impressive 4-0 record. After a fifth straight win on January 2 against Assumption to resume NE-10 play, the Falcons suffered an 84-74 loss to Pace University to break its streak. The Falcons quickly rebounded, however, with a come-from-behind 61-58 victory over American International College on January 10. It was the third time this year they won after trailing by double digits in the first half, as the team rallied from a 14-point first-half deficit.

A win against Saint Rose on January 13 propelled the team into a tie for first place and set up a showdown with Adelphi University, with the winner gaining sole possession of the top spot in the conference. Unfortunately, the Falcons were unable to capitalize on the opportunity, as they fell to Adelphi, 64-56. The team was able to bounce back from this defeat with a 66-54 win at New Haven on January 20, maintaining the team’s undefeated record after a loss.

The Falcons’ last two games have shown the team’s toughness and have given the rest of the conference a clear message that Bentley is at the top of its game. In their January 24 game versus Le Moyne, a fortunate layup by junior guard Derrek Tartt, that hung on the rim before falling in, capped a game-ending 6-0 run and lifted Le Moyne to a 66-64 win.

Although they lost, the Falcons displayed excellent three-point shooting. During the final four minutes of the first half and the first three minutes of the second half, Bentley used the long ball for a 22-7 run that turned a five-point deficit into a 43-33 lead.

Freshman forward Andrew Shaw and sophomore guard Jasper Grassa each connected from outside the arc three times during that surge. Shaw had a break-out game with a career-best 20 points off the bench, dropping six three-balls through the basket. The Falcons were able to rebound against Southern Connecticut behind a career-high 30-point outburst from senior guard Sam Leclerc, who shot 71 percent from beyond the arc.

The Falcons host Merrimack Saint Anselm on February 4 at 3:30 p.m.to wrap up a three-game home-stand.

Falcons head into final month of the season & hope to finish off strong

Last week was filled with highs and lows for the Bentley women’s basketball team, as they defeated Le Moyne by 42 points and suffered a loss to Southern Connecticut by four. The loss was only the teams third of the year, and their first in their last 17 home games. After a successful January, the team is ranked fifth in all of Division II and now sits at 17-3 overall (13-2 NE-10).

Over winter break, the team went 7-2, with major contributions from every player on the team. Sophomore forward Lauren Battista was very consistent over that stretch, and is currently second in the NE-10 in scoring with 18.1 points per game. Even more important than her high scoring average is her mentality of doing whatever it takes to help her team to win.

Since the season began, the team has been ranked in the top ten in Division II. However, the team’s main objective is not winning over the voters.

“Our goal for every season is to be the regular season champions in the NE-10 so that we have home court advantage come playoff time,” says Battista. “Coming off such a successful season last year, we want to continue to excel as a team and reach our ultimate goal of making it back to the Elite Eight in San Antonio, TX and compete for a National Championship.”

So far this season, the team is in a tie for first place in the NE-10 with Southern Connecticut. The team is hungry to keep working hard with hopes of regaining sole possession of first place.

“We still have many areas to improve upon in order to become a championship-caliber team,” says Battista. “We have all of the talent and passion within our team that is needed to be able to achieve our goals.”

Over break, the team had a good amount of success. Some highlights from January include a monster game from junior forward Caleigh Crowell on the 17. Crowell had a huge game off the bench, scoring 30 points, grabbing nine rebounds, and blocking two shots against NE-10 foe Adelphi. Crowell had 22 points in the second half, and hit six three pointers in the contest.

That same week, junior guard Courtney Finn was awarded with NE-10 Player of the Week honors. Against Adelphi, Finn recorded a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds. In that game, she set career highs in rebounds (15) and assists (6), while leading the team in minutes played with 36. Against New Haven, Finn tied for the team lead in points with 20, while filling the stat sheet with two rebounds, three assists, and a steal. Once again she led the team in minutes with 29.

Last week, Bentley traveled to Le Moyne. Five minutes into the game, Le Moyne cut the lead to one on a jump shot by guard Morgan Rowland, which prompted Bentley Coach Barbara Stevens to call a timeout. From there, Bentley turned up the heat and did not allow a Le Moyne field goal for the rest of the half. Bentley went into the second half leading 37-16.

Bentley’s first half defense stifled Le Moyne, holding them to shoot only 25 percent from the field and forcing 16 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.

The second half was more of the same, with Bentley outshooting Le Moyne 60 percent to 33 percent and forcing 12 turnovers in the half. Both freshmen Chelsea Lombardi and Carlene Kluge saw time on the court, scoring four and eight points respectively. Battista was the games highest scorer, with 15 points on 6-6 shooting from the field and 3-4 from the charity stripe. The final score was 78-36.

Last Saturday, Bentley hosted Southern Connecticut in a battle to stay atop the NE-10. The first half went back and forth, with neither team leading by more than seven points. At the break, Southern Connecticut led 27-25. Guard Sylvonya Moore had a lot of success in the half, leading all scorers with 14 points and grabbing 8 boards.

The second half started with an 8-2 run by Southern Connecticut, which was countered with a 13-2 run by Bentley to give the Falcons a 40-37 lead. Later in the half, with the score tied at 52, Southern Connecticut took the lead with a lay-up after a possession that was kept alive by three Owls offensive rebounds and lasted one minute and eleven seconds. Minutes later, after a Finn three point shot cut the Owls lead to one, Moore was able to convert an and-one opportunity into three points. Southern Connecticut closed out the game by making free throws and securing rebounds, and was victorious 63-59.

One bright spark in the game was Bentley’s Courtney Finn, who finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds. For the Owls, a 21 point effort by Moore and a 16 rebound effort by forward Moni Smith-Ocran helped Southern Connecticut earn a tie for first place in the NE-10.

Bentley’s next games include the third of a three-game home stand on Saturday when St. Anselm visits the Dana Center.

“Saturday’s game vs. St. A’s will require us to rebound the ball extremely well as they have an excellent rebounder in their forward, Megan Howard,” says Battista. “Keeping her and the other post players off the boards and being extremely aggressive rebounding at the offensive end will be a huge advantage for us.”

Missing from the past three games was sophomore forward Jacqui Brugliera, who is the team’s third best rebounder and second highest scorer. The team hopes to get healthy for the final stretch of their season and be ready to go for the playoffs.

Bentley’s other game coming up is a road battle at conference opponent St. Michael’s on Tuesday. The Purple Knights are currently 9-10 overall (6-9 NE-10). However, no team in the highly competitive NE-10 is a push over, and each win is key at this point in the season.

Super Bowl rematch the biggest game in awhile

Three years and two days after one of the biggest upsets in sports history, the New England Patriots will once again try to defeat the New York Giants in the Super Bowl. This time, however, will be different.

The 2007-08 Patriots campaign was a special one, going a perfect 16-0 throughout the season. It was a season where QB Tom Brady set the single season passing touchdown record with 50. Randy Moss set the single season receiving touchdown record with 23. As a team, New England put up 589 points, more than any team had ever scored in NFL history. This was also a season where winning anything but the Super Bowl would be unacceptable. Led by Eli Manning, the New York Giants did what no other team had done all season, defeat the New England Patriots.

Now this has been a completely different season. Both the Patriots and Giants have played well throughout the entire season. The Patriots, having the best record in the AFC, had a first-round bye. The Giants, on the other hand, were the last team into the playoffs, earning a wild card spot in the final week of the season.

The Giants won a commanding wild card round game against the Atlanta Falcons 24-2. They would next have to face another very talented team in the Green Bay Packers, who held the best record in the NFL the entire season. Eli Manning played one of the best games of his career, throwing for 330 and 3 touchdowns, defeating the Packers 37-20.

The Patriots had to fight off the “legendary” Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos during the divisional round. Tom Brady led New England to a 45-10 win over Denver with 363 yards and 6 touchdowns. Rob Gronkowski had 145 yards and 3 touchdowns in the victory that sent the Patriots to the AFC Championship.

Both the AFC and NFC championships were nail biters, as both came down to field goals. Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff missed a potential game tying 32-yard field to clinch the 23-20 victory for New England.  On the other hand, Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes successfully kicked a 31-yard field goal in overtime to send New York to the Super Bowl.

The storylines for this game are bigger than any other that we’ve seen in a while. The Patriots will look to make up for their loss in Super Bowl XLII. Eli Manning will look to overtake the legacy of Peyton, his older brother. Will Rob Gronkowski’s ankle be good enough to play? Who will be the David Tyree of this year’s game? Will it be a guy like Danny Woodhead or maybe even a guy like Victor Cruz?

Although this game means a lot to the players, it may mean even more to the fans. Fans across all of New England as well as New York and their surrounding areas will be on the edge of their seats come Sunday.

The haunting memory of Super Bowl XLII still lives in the minds of Patriots fans worldwide. I will never forget when David Tyree pinned the ball to his head as the Giants drove down the field. Watching Eli loft that pass to Plaxico Burress in the back of the end zone to clinch the win will forever break my heart. This will be the one and only opportunity for the Patriots to somewhat make that pain go away. If the Giants win, Patriots fans will never be able to accept the fact that a Boston team lost to a New York team. If the Patriots win, there will be at least some closure from Super Bowl XLII and have something to be happy about.

The Giants-Patriots rivalry has become one of the best rivalries throughout the Northeast, as well as the country. Of course there is still Yankees-Red Sox, Jets-Patriots, and Knicks-Celtics and Ranger-Bruins to a lesser extent, but it is still evident that Boston and New York teams will never get along.

Boston teams have dominated the rivalry of late, with the Boston Bruins winning the Stanley Cup most recently. The Patriots along with the Red Sox and Celtics have also all won championships over the last decade. The only championships that New York has won “recently” are the 2000 World Series when the Yankees defeated the New York Mets, the 2009 World Series when the Yankees defeated the Philadelphia Phillies and of course, in Super Bowl XLII when the Giants defeated the Patriots.

We don’t know who will win yet but there is no doubt that both teams will be giving it their all on Sunday. Brady will need to come up big against the Giants strong defense and the same goes for Eli, having a tall task against the weaker Patriots defense. My prediction: Patriots 42, Giants 24.

After starting the season 5-8-3, the Bentley Falcons are now 8-12-6 and sit in seventh place with 21 points in the Atlantic Hockey Association. Bentley lost their New Year’s Day game against Yale 9-3 before defeating and tying Robert Morris 2-1 and 2-2 respectively. After another tie and win against Air Force, Bentley lost two straight to RIT and then finished up their winter schedule with a 6-6 tie to Holy Cross. The Falcons most recently split a two game series with Army, winning the opener 6-2 and then losing the finale 3-1.

Army got on the board first with a goal by Bill Day just seven minutes into the first period. Bentley then answered back at the start of the second period with a goal by freshman F Alex Grieve. Two more goals in the period by sophomore F Jared Rickord and freshman F Alex Kubiak gave the Falcons a 3-1 lead going into the final period of the game. Bentley then scored two more unanswered goals before Army responded with a goal of their own. Sophomore goalie Brandon Komm stopped 25 of Army’s 27 shots in a commanding 6-2 road victory.

The second and final game of the series started much like the first, only Army was able to sneak two goals past Komm in the opening period. A goal by sophomore F Brett Gensler nine minutes into the second period cut the deficit to one, but an Army power play goal early in the third period secured the 3-1 victory. The Bentley offense had a much tougher time against the Army defense this time, only getting 22 shots off compared to the 36 they had in the opener.

Brett Gensler has been one of the bright spots for Bentley this season. He currently leads the AHA in points with 30 and in assists with 20. He was just named the AHA player of the week for games played through January 29. Alex Grieve has also been very impressive, being named the AHA rookie of the week during the same stretch. Grieve has ten goals and nine assists while playing in every game thus far.

The Falcons’ next two games will come against the Pioneers of Sacred Heart University, first playing at home on February 3 and then away on February 4. Sacred Heart (1-17-1, 2-23-1) is the worst team in the AHA; their last win coming surprisingly against Yale in mid-November. The Falcons routed the Pioneers 7-3 earlier in the season when junior F Dan Koudys and freshman F Brett Switzer each tallied two goals.

Falcons continue to prove strength; Grassa and O’Keefe set new career highs in pointsA

By Matt Gustus

Falcons’ look to build upon strong 3-2-1 November showing, ending with a three-game road-trip

By Benjamin Klein

After a strong November where the Bentley Falcons went 3-2-1 and climbed to fifth in the Atlantic Hockey Association, they have yet to win in December. Bentley returned home from a three-game road-trip to face off against a struggling Niagara team. The Purple Eagles outscored Bentley 6-4 in the opener before playing to a 2-2 tie in the series finale.

Sophomore goalie Branden Komm was rewarded for his outstanding play in November, being named the Goalie of the Month. Komm played in all six games during the month and had a .964 save percentage during the stretch. The Bentley goaltender also only allowed an average of 1.16 goals per game which put him amongst the best in the NCAA.

Komm was given a rest to start December as head coach Ryan Soderquist gave senior G Kyle Rank the nod in the first game against Niagara. Bentley held a 3-2 lead after two periods with goals by senior F Ryan Kayfes, senior D Mike Switzer and senior F Aaron Stonacek.

Senior F Jamie Nudy scored a short-handed goal three minutes into the third period but Niagara quickly responded with two power-play goals to tie the game at 4-4. Komm then replaced Rank in net but Niagara still managed to score another goal with only five minutes remaining in the game. In need of a game-tying goal, Bentley pulled Komm but Niagara escaped the Bentley defenders to score an empty-net goal, their fourth of the period and sixth of the game. Rank finished the game with 33 saves but the 47 total shots by Niagara were too much as they took the opener 6-4.

The second and final game of the series started off great for Bentley as Mike Switzer got them on the board just a minute in with a goal past Niagara G Chris Noonan. The Falcons gave up their small lead in the second period as Niagara scored two goals past Komm. Bentley tied the game 12 minutes into the third period when freshman D Matt Maher scored a power-play goal.

With just 1.2 seconds left in regulation, Justin Breton was tripped while trying to score and the referees awarded Bentley a penalty shot and a great opportunity to win the game. Sophomore F Brett Gensler’s shot attempt went wide against Noonan and the game went into overtime. Bentley started the extra period with a one-man advantage but couldn’t manage to score and the game ended in a 2-2 tie. The matchup was filled with penalties as the referees handed out 22 penalties that accumulated to 60 minutes, many of them coming with only two seconds left in overtime.

The loss and tie keeps Bentley at 10 points on the season, which puts them in a four-way tie for fifth place in the Atlantic Hockey Association. The Falcons will travel to the University of Connecticut on Friday for their last game of 2011. The Huskies are ninth in the AHA at 4-5-1 but they have two high-caliber players in Cole Schneider and Brant Harris who ranked third and fourth in the conference in points, respectively.

Bentley will then have a three-week break before taking the ice on New Year’s Day when they travel to play at #17 Yale. The Bulldogs were the #1 team in the nation last season going into the NCAA Tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to the eventual champion University of Minnesota-Duluth. Last season Yale had the best scoring offense and defense in DI, averaging 4.19 goals per game while only allowing 2.06 per game. Yale is the highest ranked opponent that Bentley will face all season and it will be a tough test away from home. It will be the first time ever that Yale and Bentley will play against in each.

The Falcons then return home on January 6 for a two-game series with Robert Morris, who is fourth in the AHA. They are 6-5-2 overall and 5-2-1 in the conference this season but have taken on tough out-of-opponents in Michigan State and Quinnipiac already.

From there Bentley will travel to play two games against the best team in Atlantic Hockey in Air Force. Air Force leads the AHA with 17 points and a record of 8-2-1. Their two best players are Kyle DeLaurell and Cole Gunner who rank first and second in the AHA in points with 20 and 18, respectively. Their goalie, Stephen Caple, is also the real deal as he leads the conference in goals against average at 2.09. Those two games will be the biggest in-conference games for Bentley and it would be huge to pull off the upset.

The final two games during the winter break will be at home against the RIT Tigers which will also be a test for the Falcons. The Tigers are third in the AHA at 5-3-2 and have one of the best goalies in the conference in Shane Madolora. Madolora is 15th in DI in goals against average at 2.12. He also ranks in the top 20 in save percentage and shutouts. RIT beat Bentley 4-1 and then tied them 3-3 in their two matchups last season.

Bentley will take on Holy Cross at home on January 24, the first game back from winter break. Holy Cross is one of the teams currently tied in the AHA with Bentley at 10 points. They had a huge early win over national powerhouse Boston University but were swept by RIT before recently taking two games from Canisius. The game will take place at 7 p.m. at the Ryan Skating Arena.

The Falcons are going to have to play hard every game and get quality ice time out of all of their players to compete further in the tight AHA. The top three leaders in points for Bentley happen to all be named Brett in sophomore F Brett Gensler (13), freshman F Brett Switzer (12) and junior F Brett Hartung (9). All three will be key factors in the results of this long stretch as well as the goaltending play of Branden Komm.

By Robbie LaBrie

Brett Favre was a beloved quarterback by people everywhere. He eventually became nothing but an old guy who wore jeans and wouldn’t go away.

Lil’ Wayne once wrote a little song called How to Love. If this song taught the world anything, it’s that some things should just be stopped before they even happen at all.

Hopefully my reign as sports editor fell somewhere in between these two things. Preferably closer to the Favre side because he was actually good for a little while at least.

There are certainly mixed feelings when thinking about not writing articles every week. It’s been something that I’ve really liked doing and it has helped me write good.

I’ve made some really good friends through The Vanguard and I secretly kind of like going to e-board meetings.

Both people who read my articles on a weekly basis think they’re awesome. I’d also like to thank my mom and dad for reading my articles every week.

But the more I think about all the free time I’m going to have on Tuesdays instead of writing articles, the more exciting the prospect of being a retired e-board member seems.

I can do so many activities on Tuesday nights instead of writing my articles. I can play Madden and FIFA with my roommates all night. I can devise a scheme to keep our apartment Christmas lights from falling off the wall every five minutes. I can open up a textbook and look at Chive and Barstool for seven straight hours. If I want, I could even go to the gym or do homework. Haha, jk.

I’ve tried to institute all kinds of changes here with The Vanguard, fighting hard the whole way. I was the first one to come up with the idea for the “scratch ‘n sniff” Police Log in my first year on the job. I lobbied to change my own title to “sports captain” at one point because that just makes sense.

Sure, those are all great accomplishments, but I’ve also worked under three great editor in chiefs who I’ve watched make huge improvements to the paper.

The sports section is being left in great hands with the new captain Ben, who will bring some fresh ideas and new twists on the sports section with Matt and Lou.

My time is up with The Vanguard, but it has been an experience I wouldn’t even trade for Chris Paul (although I would trade Rondo for him).

It’s like Lil’ Wayne once said, “Cut the music up. Lot of love.”

By Ben Klein

After a rough 1-5-1 start and two-game split with Canisius, the Bentley Falcon hockey team is back on track and now sits fifth in the conference standings. Sophomore goalie Branden Komm has been outstanding as of late for the Falcons with a .971 save percentage over the last four games. Bentley closed out its November schedule with two big wins over American International College and Army and then a scoreless tie and a one goal loss against Mercyhurst.

Bentley hosted a struggling AIC Yellow Jackets team and showed that their early season woes were just a fluke. After a scoreless first period, the Falcons took a 2-0 lead with goals by freshman D Steve Weinstein and senior D Trent Bonnett.

Bentley extended their lead to three goals when junior F Dan Koudys fired a wrist shot past AIC goalie Ben Meisner. A power play goal for AIC cut the deficit to two but an empty-net goal by freshman F Brett Switzer secured the victory for the Falcons. Komm saved 31 of the 32 AIC shots to give Bentley a 3-1 conference record.

The Falcons then traveled the next day to West Point, New York to face an Army team with a 1-4-2 record. Both teams scored in the opening period but Army out shot Bentley 12-7. Great plays by Komm and Army goalie Ryan Leets kept the score at 1-1 going into the third period.

Army penalties would be the key for Bentley’s late game success as they scored twice on the power play in the third period and added one more for another 4-1 victory. Freshman D Matt Maher scored six minutes into the period and then freshman F Alex Kubiak gave Bentley a 3-1 lead with eight minutes remaining.

Army F Danny Colvin received a game misconduct penalty for hitting from behind with seven minutes left in the period and sophomore F Justin Breton took advantage of it with the fourth and final Bentley goal.

Komm had an unbelievable game saving 40 shots. He was later named the goalie of the week in the Atlantic Hockey conference for his phenomenal play in the two games.

With a 4-1 conference record, Bentley looked to continue their success with a two-game series in Erie, PA against Mercyhurst who also had a 4-1 Atlantic Hockey record. Bentley put the pressure on goalie Max Strang throughout the first two period, outshooting Mercyhurst 27-17. Strang, as well as Bentley goalie Branden Komm, wouldn’t let a shot go by them as the game remained scoreless after three periods of play.

The overtime period was all Falcons as they put 8 shots on Strang but they just couldn’t sneak one shot by him and the teams played to a 0-0 draw. The tie put both teams into a three-way tie with Air Force atop the AHA, all with 9 points.

In the series finale Mercyhurst took advantage of six Bentley penalties, scoring twice on the power play. Bentley led after the first period when Steve Weinstein finally found the net against Max Strang. A tripping penalty late in the period gave Mercyhurst the one-man advantage to start the second period.

Just 23 seconds into the period, Mercyhurst F Chris Bodo beat Komm to tie the game at 1-1. Mercyhurst scored another power play goal just ten minutes later when F Daniel Bahntge scored just before the penalty concluded. Bentley failed to score in the third period and Mercyhurst took the game 2-1. Komm saved 33 of 35 shots while Strang only allowed one goal on 33 shots.

During the four-game stretch Bentley scored nine goals by eight different Falcons, with Steve Weinstein scoring twice. Sophomore F Brett Gensler and Brett Switzer each had three assists and are both tied for second place in the AHA with 8 on the season.

After being named goalie of the week for games through the 14th, Komm was named to the AHA honor roll this past week for making 61 saves in the two games against Mercyhurst. In the four games he saved 132 of 136 shots giving him a .971 save percentage. Komm has a .936 save percentage on the season which is the second best in the conference. He also ranks fourth in total saves with 363 and fifth in goals-against average at 2.25.

The Falcons now have a 4-7-2 overall record and a 4-2-1 in the AHA which puts them in fifth place with 9 points. Bentley will host Niagara (3-5-4, 2-2-3) for a two-game series on December 2 and 3, with both games starting at 7:05 p.m. Niagara defeated Bentley twice last season with scores of 4-1 and 5-3.

Courtney Finn sets school record with 7 three-pointers  in win against Holy Family

By Benjamin Klein

There were high expectations of the #2 nationally ranked Bentley Falcons going into the season and they exceeded those expectations in their first two games of the 2011-12 season. The Falcons defeated Holy Family, who is ranked 18th in the country, 82-57 in the season opener at the UMass-Lowell Tip-Off Tournament with the help of a record-setting performance by junior G Courtney Finn. In the second game of the tournament, Bentley defeated Felician 76-42 behind a sophomore F Lauren Battista double-double.

Courtney Finn accomplished something that a Bentley player hadn’t done since 2004, hitting seven three-pointers in a game. Finn and the Falcons started the game strong offensively and defensively. After the first five minutes Bentley led Holy Family 13-0.

The Falcons then started to catch fire from three-point range hitting a total of 8 in the first half, four coming from Finn. At halftime Bentley held a commanding 41-18 lead, 12 coming from Finn and 9 from Battista.

“Offensively we have so many weapons which makes it so hard for other teams to defend us. We have a really great outside presence on the court which makes our offense very well distributed,” Battista said.

Holy Family cut Bentley’s lead down to just 15 only two minutes into the second half before Battista put the team on her back. She responded with 6 points in the next few minutes before Finn caught fire yet again. She would hit three more threes in the second half to put her total at 7, tying a school record.

Finn finished the opener with a game-high 21 points. Battista and senior F Shatasia Kearse both had double-doubles in the Bentley victory.

Holy Family only shot 30 percent from the field during the game and 3-22 from three-point range while committing 18 turnovers. “We can definitely score a lot of points, but the most important thing for us is our defense, and stopping our opponents from getting open shots and opportunities for second chance points. It will always be the most important key to winning our games this season. ” Battista said.

Bentley completely outplayed Felician in the second game of the season, blowing them out 76-42. After Felician scored the first four points of the game, Bentley then scored 13 unanswered points which led to a 35-21 lead at halftime.

Senior G Meghan Thomann led all scorers with 8 points at half, including two three-pointers. The Falcons had 16 offensive rebounds in the half, giving them plenty of opportunities for second-chance points.

Felician cut Bentley’s lead to 13 at the start of the second half but then the Falcons went on a 30-13 tear which put the game away. Battista played a huge part in the scoring eruption with 8 straight points, giving Bentley a 70-38 lead with just a few minutes remaining. She finished with a game-high 17 points and also added 10 rebounds, giving her back-to-back double-doubles. Senior G Lauren Massie scored 10 points off of the bench for the Falcons.

The key to this victory for Bentley was rebounding. The Falcons out-rebounded Felician 52-31 which included 24 offensive rebounds, leading to 24 second-chance points. Felician had a tough time against the Bentley defense as well; committing 30 turnovers which Bentley took advantage of with 32 points.

“These first two wins were important because they gave us confidence as we approach our conference games,” said Battista. “It gives us an edge in regional standings so we have an opportunity to host regionals like we did last year. They also helped us realize certain areas that we need to improve upon in order to be successful in our highly competitive league.”

Battista was named to the NE-10 Honor Roll for her performances in the first two games. She is averaging 18 points per game and 10 rebounds per game, both ranking sixth in the NE-10. She will be tested early when Bentley goes play Megan Howard and St. Anselm, who were ranked 11th in the NE-10 Preseason Poll. Howard was named the NE-10 Player of the Week after averaging 21 points and 16 rebounds in her first two games. She scored 28 points and grabbed 24 rebounds against NYIT.

Head Coach Barbara Stevens now has 823 career wins which is good for sixth all-time amongst women’s college basketball coaches. She is competing with Tara VanDerveer, the current head coach of Stanford, who sits eight wins ahead of Stevens for fifth all-time.

Bentley opens conference play this Wednesday at home against #10 UMass-Lowell at 5:30 p.m. The Falcons will then go on the road to face #12 Merrimack and #11 St. Anselm before closing out November at home against #8 St. Michael’s.

By Matt Gustus

The Bentley men’s basketball team opened their season with two non conference wins in the annual Bentley Tip-Off Classic. Defense and high-percentage shooting were the keys to the wins against Felician College and Bloomfield College.

Friday night, Bentley hosted Felician College in their season opener. The Falcons came out of the gates ready to play, holding the Golden Falcons to only 10 points in the first 10 minutes. Offensively, the team was clicking as well, shooting 50 percent from the field in the first half. The largest lead for the Falcons in the half was 21, and Bentley went into halftime with a comfortable 18-point lead, 44-26.

The scoring in the first half was spread out for Bentley, with all 9 players who made it onto the court scoring. Juniors Dan O’Keefe and Greg Jacques each went 3-6 from the field, totaling eight points in the first half. The Falcon defense was stifling, forcing the Golden Falcons to shoot only 29 percent for 26 points in the opening half.

The second half was much of the same for Bentley, who pushed their lead to 27 within three minutes of the second half. With just under six minutes to play, Bentley finished off a 23-4 run, which put the score at 94-47. The Falcons went on to win the game by the score of 100-62.

Bentley had six different players score in double figures. Junior Dan O’Keefe was the game’s highest scorer, netting 17 points on 6-10 shooting from the field, to go along with a perfect 5-5 from the free throw line. Also contributing for the Falcons was a trio of freshmen making their Bentley debuts. J.P. Koury, Andrew Shaw, and Jate Cheshul had 12, 10, and 8 points respectively, including two 3-pointers each.

The next night, Bentley faced a much tougher opponent in Bloomfield College. The Deacons had great success at the Dana Center last year, defeating Bentley in both the Tip-Off Classic and the NCAA Division II East Regional Finals. The beginning of the game was neck and neck, with no team leading by more than six at any point in the first half.

During a three minute stretch in the middle of the half, the Falcons fired up four quick three pointers in a row with more than twenty seconds still on the shot clock. As the Bloomfield lead crept up to six, Coach Jay Lawson called a timeout, during which he told his players to stop settling for the first shot they saw. Out of the timeout, each player touched the ball and the possession ended with a great move by Junior Greg Jacques who got fouled and hit both free throws.

At the end of the half, Bloomfield led Bentley 44 to 40. Sophomore Jasper Grassa shot well in the first half, hitting 4 of 6 shots, including two three pointers, for 12 points. Senior Sam Leclerc picked up two fouls within a minute of each other 10 minutes into the game and was forced to sit on the bench for the rest of the half.

Coming out of the break, Bentley turned up the intensity, scoring the first nine points of the half.

“We knew we weren’t playing well in the first half so in the locker room we really focused on playing smarter on both ends of the floor,” said senior Kevin Kettl. “We played tougher defense and moved the ball better on offense to go on a run and get the lead.”

Later, with just under four minutes left in the game, Bloomfield started to gain momentum and cut the lead to just four. However, before the Deacons could get any closer, Grassa came up with a streak of clutch plays. Grassa nailed a three pointer with defenders in his face, made a great steal on defense, and then on the ensuing possession came down and nailed another three pointer.

With the lead at 10, Bentley made seven of its last eight free throws to preserve the win 83 to 74. Grassa was the game’s high scorer, shooting 8 for 11 overall, including five of eight from long range, and 4-for-4 on free throws, to finish with 25 points. Leclerc, who played only eight minutes in the first half, had a strong second half and finished with 14 points. Junior Dan O’Keefe also had 14 points, but more importantly was asked to cover Bloomfield senior forward Matt Wafula. Wafula, who had recorded a double-double the previous night with 18 points and 12 rebounds, was held to only 12 points by the Falcons. Overall, Bentley’s defense played very well. In the second half, the Falcons held Bloomfield to just under 29-percent shooting for 30 points.

The fourth team in the Tip-Off Classic was Northeast 10 member Merrimack. The Warriors looked impressive in both of their games, beating Bloomfield 87-79 and Felician 87-53. Merrimack senior Roland Davis averaged 27 points in the tournament, including 33 against Bloomfield. Bentley will face Merrimack for the first time this year next Tuesday.

Before then, Bentley has two games this week. Wednesday November 16, Bentley will open up their conference schedule when they host UMass-Lowell. The River Hawks were picked by the NE-10 coaches to win the conference in the annual preseason coaches’ poll. They are returning all five starters from last year’s team which finished fifth in the conference.

“UMass-Lowell [has] added their PG who missed last year with a knee injury and added another guard scorer from a D1 program,” senior Sam Leclerc said. “They are athletic and play aggressive on both ends of the floor to try to speed the pace of the game up. If we can take care of the ball and play our way we have a chance to be in position to win.”

To finish off November, Bentley will host non conference opponent Bridgeport Sunday, visit Saint Anselm on the 27th and host Saint Michael’s on the 30th. Both Saint Anselm and Saint Michael’s landed in the top six of the coaches’ poll and will serve as early tests for the young Falcons.

Falcons enter season claiming six of the last seven NE-10 titles and appearing in five straight sweet 16

By Benjamin Klein

The Bentley Falcons men’s basketball team has had great success over the last few seasons and it continued with another huge run in the NCAA Division II tournament last season. A team of experience and leadership took Bentley to the Sweet Sixteen for the fifth consecutive year, only to lose to Bloomfield in the Elite Eight, 75-71. This postseason run came after the Falcons took home the regular season NE-10 championship with an 18-4 conference record. Bentley has now won the NE-10 title in six of the last seven seasons.

Bentley loses four of its starters from last season in Joe Fremeau, Brian Tracey, Mike Quinn and Tom Dowling. Tracey was named to the All NE-10 First Team and led the team in points per game with 17.2 and rebounds per game with eight. He ranks 10th on the All-Time Scoring List at Bentley with 1,547 career points. Dowling and Quinn rank 31st and 38th on that list, respectively. Mike Quinn leaves Bentley with the most games started in school history with 133.

The lone remaining starter for Bentley will be senior G Sam Leclerc, who completed his first season as a Falcon last year after transferring from Bryant University. Leclerc started in 30 of the team’s 32 games during the season and averaged almost eight points per game. “Sam played well for us last season but will take on a bigger leadership role this year,” said Head Coach Jay Lawson.

F Kevin Kettl is the only other senior on this year’s roster. Kettl has come off the bench for most of his career at Bentley but it is likely that he joins Leclerc in the starting rotation. Besides the two seniors, there are only 4 other upperclassmen on the roster, G Greg Jacques and F Dan O’Keefe with the most experience as the first and second to come off of the bench last year.
Bentley currently has three sophomores and five freshmen on the roster.

“This is probably the youngest team we have ever had here at Bentley,” Lawson said. “It’s going to take some time to gain the experience that we’ve had in the past but the guys are practicing hard to try and continue the program’s success.”

The younger talent showed what they were capable of on Sunday when they took on Bishop’s University in a preseason exhibition.

Bentley won the matchup 101-74 but it was the performances of sophomore G Jasper Grassa and freshman F Andrew Shaw that were overly impressive. Grassa was 10-15 from the field and 8-11 from three-point range for 29 points while also adding seven assists and five rebounds. Shaw scored 21 points off of the bench while shooting 5-7 from behind the three-point line.

“Grassa and Shaw are both great shooters and they will play big roles for us this season,” Lawson said. The Falcons shot 50 percent from both the field and three-point range in the game which led to the 27-point victory.
Last season Bentley took the most three-point attempts in the NE-10 by a margin of almost 100 attempts. Nearly half of their total shots taken last season were from three but their 43-percent three-point percentage continues to impress.

“We don’t go into games saying that we are going to take a bunch of threes but it helps when your forwards are good shooters and the defense doesn’t follow them out there,” Lawson said.

One of the biggest problems the Falcons will face this season is their difficult early schedule. They will play seven games before the start of December, five of them being home games. They open the 2011-12 season with the annual Bentley Tip-Off Classic where they will face out-of-conference opponents Felician and Bloomfield.

Felician only went 14-13 but Bloomfield will be a true test as it will be a rematch of the NCAA Regional Championship game from last season. They have lost their two leading scorers from last year but were still ranked first in the CACC preseason poll that was released just this week.

Bentley will then take on UMass-Lowell who was ranked first in the NE-10 preseason poll just ahead of the Falcons who received 4 of the 16 first-place votes. UMass, even though losing in the semifinals of the NE-10 tournament and the first round of the NCAA tournament, poses a huge threat to Bentley’s streak of regular season conference championships. They will return all five of their starters and 13 total players from last season. Their backcourt will be a huge test for Bentley as Akeem Williams led the River Hawks and ranked fourth in the NE-10 in points per game with just over 18 as a freshman.

“It’s always a big game when the preseason number one comes to your court early in the season,” Coach Lawson said. This anticipated NE-10 matchup will take place on November 16 at 7:30 p.m. in the Dana Center.
Following that game Bentley will take on the University of Bridgeport in a non-conference game before playing a slew of NE-10 teams. They will travel to play #7 Merrimack and then #3 Saint Anselm before returning home to face #6 St. Michael’s to close out their November schedule. St. Michael’s got the best of the Falcons late in the 2010-11 season and held them to a season-low 42 points but Bentley eliminated the Purple Knights in the quarterfinals of the 2011 NE-10 Championship 67-54.

One of the main things Bentley will need to do early is stay out of foul trouble. Last season they led all Division II teams in fewest personal fouls per game with 13. Team discipline has been one of the bigger keys to success for Bentley and Coach Lawson has continued to teach it year after year. Lawson is going into his 21st season at Bentley and has produced a winning record in all but one year, sixteen years ago. Lawson hopes that the success continues this year with another great season.

Bentley will open its regular season at home on Friday, November 11 at 8 p.m. against Felician in the first game of the Bentley Tip-Off Classic.

By Matt Gustus

The men’s ice hockey team split a two-game set against conference opponent Canisius last weekend, bringing their record to 2-6-1 overall and 2-1 in the AHA.

Sophomore goalie Branden Komm played a major role in game one, posting Bentley’s first shutout since January 2009. Komm was able to stop all 24 Golden Griffin shots to preserve the win. The play of the game came with less than four minutes remaining, when Komm made a remarkable save on a shot from Canisius forward Kyle Gibbons.

Aiding in the strong defensive effort for Bentley was the penalty kill line, who were on the ice for eight power plays, totaling an impressive eighteen minutes of play without conceding a goal.

Junior Brett Hartung provided the only score in the game, scoring twice in the contest. His first goal came in the middle of the second period. Hartung was in the right place at the right time and tipped in a shot to give Bentley a 1-0 lead. Assisting on the play was sophomore Zach Marginsky. In the last minute of the game, Canisius pulled their goalie off the ice in favor of an extra attacker to try and tie the game. However, Hartung recovered the puck and knocked it in from the neutral zone to give Bentley the 2-0 win.

The next day, the two teams suited up again for game two of the weekend set. Canisius got on the board first, scoring a goal midway through the first period. The goal came on the Golden Griffin’s first power play of the night, which was a great improvement from the night before. Neither team scored again until the third period, when Canisius forward Mitch McCrank scored less than five minutes in. Canisius scored one more goal less than a minute later to put the game out of reach.

Bentley managed to score one goal late in game, coming from sophomore Brett Gensler. However, the game was out of reach for the Falcons, who lost their first conference game of the season by the score of 3-1.
Looking ahead, Bentley has a pair of conference games this weekend. Friday, Bentley will host American International in just their third home game this season. AIC (2-7 overall, 2-2 AHA) is in a similar situation as Bentley, having lost some close non conference games early in the season but rebounded well in conference.

Saturday, Bentley will travel to Army (0-4-2 overall, 0-2-1 AHA). The Black Knights will be looking for their first win of the season on the comfort of their home ice.

After a tought start, Bentley looks ahead to a busy November featuring six conference games

By Matt Gustus

The Bentley ice hockey team opened up its Atlantic Hockey schedule last week with a solid win against Sacred Heart, starting the season at 1-0 in conference play. Their recent games have also included three non-conference games: One against Quinnipiac and two against Clarkson.

Bentley continued its five game road trip with a game at Quinnipiac University. Quinnipiac came out hard and fast, scoring six minutes into the contest. Bentley responded with a goal of their own by sophomore Brett Gensler six minutes later.

Then, with just over two minutes left in the first period, Quinnipiac scored their second goal of the game on a power play. The next two periods were controlled by Quinnipiac, who scored two goals in each period.

Bentley then traveled to Sacred Heart University to play in their first Atlantic Hockey game of the season. The game was neck and neck until the Pioneers scored their first goal 11 minutes in. The Falcons responded quickly, scoring a goal of their own thirty seconds later.

Sophomore Brett Gensler got credit for the goal, which was his second in as many games. In the final minutes of the first period, junior Brett Hartung put Bentley ahead for its first lead of the game, and gave Bentley momentum going into the first intermission.

Eleven minutes into the second period, junior Dan Koudsy added to Bentley’s lead. Koudsy knocked the puck past the defense in the neutral zone and set himself up with a breakaway, which he put home glove side.
Also scoring in the second period for the Falcons was freshman Brett Switzer, who scored his first two career goals within four minutes of each other. The second of his goals was the product of a face off win by teammate Alex Grieve and assists from Steve Weinstein and Brett Gensler.

Splitting the two goals by Switzer was a goal by Sacred Heart’s Brian Sheehan, which came on a power play with under two minutes left in the period. With the score 5-2 at the end of the second period, Pioneer goalie Andrew Bodnarchuk was benched in favor of sophomore Chris Paliafito.

The third period was more of the same, with Bentley scoring two goals to Sacred Heart’s one. Once again it was Dan Koudsy scoring his second goal of the game, and putting the Falcons up 6-2. After a Sacred Heart goal from Sheehan, his second of the game, Bentley’s Alex Grieve scored the game’s final goal, ending the game 7-3.

The win was Bentley’s first of the season, and their only conference game thus far in the season.

Last weekend, Bentley hosted Clarkson in a two game set in the comfort of the John A. Ryan Arena. The first game of the back to back saw the Golden Nights score twice in the first ten minutes to take a comfortable lead. Goals came from Nick Tremblay seven minutes in and Ben Sexton one minute later on a power play.

Bentley came back with a goal midway through the second period, cutting the Clarkson lead to one heading into the final period. Scoring on the play for the Falcons was senior Tyler Quartuccio, knocking home his first goal of the year. Assisting on the play was Brett Switzer and Brett Gensler.

A Clarkson goal in the fourth minute from Allan McPherson was matched by a Bentley goal in the ninth minute from junior Brett Hartung. In the final minutes, a desperation move by the Falcons to pull goalie Kyle Rank in favor of an extra attacker was unable to produce a game tying goal. Bentley dropped their home opener 3-2, despite outshooting Clarkson 35-28 for the game, and 24 -14 in the second and third period combined.

Game 2 of the back to back set ended slightly better for Bentley. In this game, it was Bentley who struck first on a power play goal from Mike Switzer six minutes into the game. With the one man advantage, Switzer took a slap shot from the blue line and found the back of the net. The Falcons’ lead would stand for the rest of the first period.

However, Bentley’s lead would vanish in a hurry. Clarkson responded immediately, scoring on a power play just 36 seconds after the puck dropped to resume play after intermission. Another Golden Night goal four minutes later put Bentley behind for the first time all game.

Relief didn’t come for the Falcons until halfway through the third period, when Brett Hartung scored his second goal of the weekend. The goal for Hartung tied up the score at 2-2, which is how the score would read at the final buzzer. Clarkson had the majority of the opportunities in overtime, including one power play, but was denied by Bentley goalie Branden Komm.

The tie put Bentley’s record at 1-5-1 (1-0 Atlantic). The next two games for the Falcons are this weekend when they visit conference opponent Canisius for a two game trip.

Computer models no longer give MLB teams an advantage

By Robbie LaBrie

This is probably an issue in baseball that deserves far more than 600 words of attention, but we have yet to give any attention at all to the whole Red Sox meltdown/clearing house of Theo and Francona.
The first thing to get straight is that drinking in the clubhouse and eating fried chicken did not cause the Red Sox to collapse in September. It certainly makes a nice little story and is a good symbol of the lack of caring or competitive drive the team possessed, but it’s not the cause.

Babe Ruth notoriously ate hot dogs and drank beer in between innings. Tim Raines had to slide head first when he slid into a base so he didn’t break the cocaine vials in his back pocket. David Wells, El Guapo and CC Sabathia certainly aren’t pictures of fitness. Baseball players simply don’t need to be that well conditioned and a little chicken and beer consumed by three players doesn’t lead to a 7-20 record in September.

The problem with the Red Sox is something that has stemmed way deeper than conditioning or even the September collapse.

As everyone knows, Theo Epstein was bred and developed as a Billy Beane “Moneyball” type general manager. That is to say he relies heavily on computers and stats to make his decisions.

Theo Epstein’s problem (and it may be an organizational problem rather than just his problem personally) is that they have put way too much faith into a computer telling them how good each signing will be, rather than looking at other important elements, like competitiveness of players and clubhouse leadership.

They made what seemed like sound signings, but when it came down to it, the team couldn’t win games. Rather than figuring out how to win, they only figured out how to accumulate talent.

What many people fail to take away is that Moneyball, at its core, is not really about how you should use computer programs and stats geeks to build your team. It’s not about getting players with a high OBP or staying away from guys who steal bases or not drafting college players.

Sure, maybe those things can work, but the true philosophy that made Billy Beane’s Oakland A’s successful in the “Moneyball Era” was value. He found positive traits in players that were undervalued by every other team, so he was able to get more for his money than everybody else.

When you sign a guy like Carl Crawford, his stats may look great on paper. Carmine (Theo’s trusty computer) may tell you he’s a perfect fit. But then you look at his value. Is he worth over $20 million per year? Never.
And this is what leads to such disappointment for Red Sox fans. We see the amount of money they are paying for players every year and they just get such little value out of it.

Is the era of stats geeks ruling the game over? Probably not, but now that everyone has their stats guys and teams are on the same level, analyzing a player’s performance on paper no longer gives you an edge. The value there is gone.

There will certainly be a new hidden value somewhere in the game that someone will find. Maybe it will be scouting or another player attribute like fielding that will become undervalued to the point that it can be exploited. But without a doubt, the Moneyball Era as we know it is dead and gone and if Theo wants to have any success with the Cubs, he better figure that out quick.

By Matt Gustus

The Bentley University golf team wrapped up their season last week in impressive fashion. With first-place finishes in three of seven tournaments and strong showings in all the others, Bentley had one of its most successful seasons in a long time.

Bentley started the season off strong with a first place finish in the Saint Rose Fall Shootout. By shooting a very impressive 299 as a team on day two of the Shootout, Bentley was able to win by a comfortable six stroke margin. Bentley junior Matt Michel and senior Nick Clarke led the Bentley squad, finishing in second and sixth respectively. Michel, who shot 4 over par on day one, had a phenomenal day two by shooting an even-par 71.

The victory was Bentley’s first tournament win in four years and proved to be a sign of great things to come. The difference that makes this year’s team exceptional can be traced to practice and experience.

“A lot of our guys worked on their game over the summer,” said Richie Powers, senior captain. “We have a deep team…full of veterans with lots of experience.”

Bentley’s next two tournaments were the Northeast Intercollegiate Championships and the Dowling September Shootout. As a team, Bentley placed sixth out of 15 teams in the Northeast Intercollegiate Championship and fifth out of 18 teams in the Dowling September Shootout. Junior Matt Michel continued his strong play, finishing in second overall by a single stroke in the Northeast Intercollegiate Championship. Senior Richie Powers also had strong showings in both tournaments, most notably his 12th place finish in Dowling out of 90 participants.

Bentley’s second tournament win came at the highly competitive Northeast-10 Championships. On day one, Powers and Michel were tied for sixth place, while Bentley as a team stood three strokes back in second place for the day, with reigning NE-10 champion Adelphi close behind. Sophomore Harry Kirkpatrick and senior Nick Clarke also performed well on day one, finishing in 8th and 20th, respectively. Junior Dan McQueen rounded out Bentley’s group of five.

On day two of the NE-10 Championships, Bentley played very well. Powers and Kirkpatrick led the Bentley squad, tying for second best individual scores of the day. Michel and Clarke placed themselves 8th and 13th, respectively. Bentley’s tournament score of 609 was enough to capture their first NE-10 championship since 2007, which was their third in the last six years and their fourth all time.

Powers, Michel, and Kirkpatrick were all awarded first-team All-Conference honors for their outstanding play. Bentley’s coach Mickey Herron, who is in his second year as coach, was awarded the honor of NE-10 Coach of the Year.

The day after capturing the NE-10 title, the team was back on the road at the Assumption College Shootout. As a team, Bentley played well and finished in second place behind only Holy Cross. Powers led all participants by shooting a 72 and took home the medalist honors. Second for Bentley was freshman Quincy Coulter, who made his Bentley debut, shooting a 78. His strong performance landed him Northeast 10 Conference Golf Rookie of the Week.

Just as the weather in New England started to turn cold, the team headed south to Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. The PGA National Resort, which held the Nova Southeastern Shark Invitational, has been home to many PGA events over the past few decades. Most notably, the course has been the home of the PGA Senior Championship for the last 20 years.

The course proved to be tough for the Falcons, who used the tournament as a learning experience, and turned their attentions to their biggest tournament of the season.

The New England Championships were comprised of a field of 34 teams, including a mix of NCAA D1, D2, and D3 schools. The Falcons started day one off well, landing them in third place, four strokes behind leaders Bryant and Holy Cross. NE-10 rival UMASS-Lowell was close behind Bentley by just one stroke.

Once again it was Powers and Michel leading the way, shooting a 75 and 76 respectively. Clarke, Coulter, and McQueen each shot a 77 to round out the group of five.

Day two of the New England Championships came down to the final shot. In the end, it was the Bentley Falcons on top of the leader board. With a tournament total score of 605, Bentley was able to edge out the Bryant Bulldogs by a single stroke to take home the trophy.

Michel had a very strong second round, shooting a 73 which tied him for first for day 2. Powers was able to maintain his high level of play, shooting his second 75 of the tournament. Clarke was Bentley’s number three man, scoring a 76 on day two. The last two golfers, Coulter and McQueen, rounded out the impressive depth of Bentley’s scoring with their second pair of 77s for the tournament.

“Everybody helped out” said senior captain Powers. “We were the only team to have no higher round than 77. No one let any rounds get away from them.”

Prior to this year, Bentley had not cracked the top ten since 1998, when they placed eigth.

“The New Englands were special because a D2 team hasn’t won it since 1992, when Bryant won it,” said Powers. “Everyone played really well.”

The win at the New England Championships capped off a spectacular fall season for the Falcons. The team hopes to keep working hard this winter to be ready to keep rolling in the spring. The spring season will include a similar amount of tournaments, including the NCAA Division II Super Regional Tournament in May.

To keep themselves playing at a high level, the team is going to stay focused during the winter months. Their plans include hitting at indoor facilities, strength and instruction programs, and practicing whenever they can. To start the spring season, the team is working on a trip down south.

“During Spring Break we are taking a trip to Myrtle Beach… which will jump start the season,” Powers said. Hopefully, the warm weather will help keep Bentley playing hot.

This year, the Panhellenic Council is hosting their first ever Charity Denim Drive. Over 400 pairs of designers jeans for men and women, as well as jackets and tops from Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters and Free People, will be sold to raise money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Everything is brand new and discounted 40 – 60 percent.

The jeans and tops are either from last season or they are samples of products to be made and therefore can be discounted and sold to raise money. This is the first time the Panhellenic Council is putting on an event like this – the idea came from one of the Council members’ friends from back home. All of the proceeds will go to the AFSP, an organization that is very near and dear to one of the Greek Life members.

Jeans are to be sold at around $55 – $80, and tops from the stores mentioned above will be starting at around $15. There are over 60 volunteers and the Panhellenic Council is looking for more. E-mail GA_panhelleniccouncil@bentley.edu for more information, and check out the actual Drive on November 4 from 12 to 4 p.m. in the Back Bay.

Falcons have been up and down throughout season so far

This past Sunday, Bentley Men’s Rugby traveled to North Andover to face off with NE-10 foe Merrimack. In the first year of the newly formed Northeast 10 Rugby League, the Falcons came in with a 3-1 record, with its only loss coming to the 18th nationally ranked American International College.

Ranked 21 themselves, Bentley looked like they had something to prove against Merrimack this past week.

Putting up 90 points (in a 90-15 victory), Bentley had 8 different players find the end-zone. Leading the charge, however, were Bentley’s forwards. The workhorses of the squad, Falcon forwards had their way with their Merrimack counterparts.

Playing strong games were forwards Douglas Goodhile, Oisin O’Donnelly, and Phil Whitaker, all lead by senior captain Kevin Raftery.

In his first game back from a shoulder injury, Whitaker made his presence felt in loose play, where he found himself around the ball more often than not.

O’Donnelly made his biggest contribution in the scrum, where he punished opposing Merrimack props in the front row. Emerging as a team leader on defense, Goodhile had tackles in the double digits, many of which violent in nature.

The ring leader and field captain, Kevin Raftery, had a big second half, adding another try to his season total. To this point Raftery has posted 7 tries. Also having big games this week was Co-Captain flyhalf Spencer McKenna, and junior outside center Max Smith. McKenna recorded a game high 25 points, with 1 try and 10 kick conversions. Max mith scored 3 first half tries of his own, bringing his season total to 6. With their performances this week, Raftery, McKenna and Smith all put themselves atop the list of the league’s top eight scorers.

Playing new positions this week were juniors Mike Fafara and Forrest Detwiler (playing inside center and wing, respectively). Both had solid performances in the rout. In just his second start at inside center (moved from forward) Fafara scored two consecutive tries in the second half, bringing his season total to three. Detwiler, in his first ever start at wing, scored his first try of the season on a nice break-away run.

With a convincing win against Merrimack, the Falcons are beginning to inch closer to a second consecutive national playoff run. Wins against Umass Lowell and Providence in the next two weeks will put Bentley in the league championship game on November 12, in a rematch against AIC. For now, the Falcons are focusing on Umass Lowell, who they will visit this Friday night, October 28.

Max Smith, the writer of this article, is a member of Bentley Men’s Rugby.

Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Zdeno Chara – these are just a few names of hockey players who have never scored more than 5 goals in a game. This past Saturday, Stephanie Sideris scored 6 goals on Senior Day, the final regular season game of her field hockey career. Just like Ted Williams hitting a home run in his final at bat, Sideris finished her regular season collegiate career with a bang.

Sideris led Bentley’s field hockey team to a 9-1 victory over Southern Connecticut in the regular season finale here at Bentley over the weekend. Sideris had 11 shots and added an assist. If you were wondering, the school record for goals in a game is seven by Annette Brow, who did so back in 1983.

Senior Tori Bergantino, junior Nicole Dion, and freshman Gina Lirange also scored for the Lady Falcons, who improved to an overall record of 9-8, with a 6-4 conference record. Southern Connecticut came out with a third minute goal to start the scoring, and then Bentley went on to score 9 unanswered over the next 67 minutes.

Last Tuesday, Bentley faced St. Michael’s and had another solid offensive and defensive performance in a 2-0 victory on the road. Junior Julia Powell recorded the shutout, facing 5 shots and blocking them all for her fifth shutout of the season.

Senior Tori Bergantino had a goal in the sixth minute to start the scoring, and she added an assist later in the game. The other goal was scored in the 50th minute by junior Beth Maguire. Bentley was outshot on the afternoon, but with the strong game in net by Powell and the help from the defenders, St. Michael’s was unable to get any quality looks to score.

Bentley moves into the post season with high hopes to continue their recent success. Bentley finished in a tie for fourth place in the Northeast-10 Conference, and plays the other 6-4 NE-10 team, American International, on Wednesday night.

If you weren’t able to make Bentley Field Hockey’s home game on October 7, you missed out on a great event. The game was part of the Falcons “Think Pink” event, which raised $1,000 towards Breast Cancer research.

The team also participated in the 19th annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer two-mile walk in Boston, raising $2,000 the week before.

Southern Connecticut State University hands Bentley second straight defeat; Falcons now tied for fourth in NE-10

By: Ben Klein

After three straight wins, the Bentley Falcons had two challenges facing them and lost both by a combined six points. Last weekend the Falcons traveled to Merrimack who was 3-1 at the time. The Falcons had a 29-18 lead at halftime but Merrimack shut out the Falcons in the second half and scored 15 points of their own for a 33-29 victory. The loss made their homecoming game against Southern Connecticut State University a must win from a conference standpoint.

With both teams at 4-2 going into this Saturday’s game, it was destined to be an exciting game and it sure was. The Falcons were up 17-7 at halftime but SCSU didn’t go down quietly, taking a 31-17 lead late the in the game. QB Bryant Johnson led two amazing drives down the field, both ending with hail marry touchdowns. The only problem was a missed extra point which gave the Owls an eight point lead instead of seven. Bentley was forced to go for a 2-point conversion to try and tie the game but Johnson’s pass failed and SCSU took home the 31-29 victory.

Bentley opened the game with a 10 play, 86-yard drive that was ignited by two big SCSU penalties. A 15-yard run by RB Bobby Tarr setup a 4-yard touchdown run by Mike Sumrell. The touchdown was the fifth time this season that the Falcons scored on their opening drive. The Bentley defense only allowed 11 total yards against the Owls in the first quarter and led the game 10-0.

Southern CT fought back at the start of the second quarter with a touchdown of their own. RB Rashaad Slowley led the 94-yard drive with 7 carries for 25 yards and a touchdown to cut the lead to 10-7.

Bentley wanted to end the first half with a big drive but an incomplete pass from Johnson to WR Bill Kiley on third and 5 forced what looked to be a 49-yard field goal attempt by Will Lockwood. Lockwood’s career long was only 44 yards so it seemed unlikely that head coach Thom Boerman would attempt such a long kick. Holder Matt Welch took the snap and stood up for a fake field goal pass attempt. He connected with WR Sean Cross who ran the ball into the end zone for a 32 yard touchdown. The amazing play was good enough to be No. 9 on ESPN’s Top 10 Plays list.

Southern CT was given great field position following an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the touchdown but Don Hopkins intercepted a Kevin Lynch pass with under a minute remaining in the half. Bryant Johnson was then intercepted to end the half with the score 17-7 in favor of the Falcons.

The Owls came out of the half strong with a drive to pull them within striking distance of Bentley. Rashaad Slowley was involved on every play including a 20-yard reception and then a 28-yard touchdown catch. Their defense also improved in the third quarter, forcing three Bentley punts and keeping the score at 17-14.

Just a minute into the fourth quarter SCSU took the lead after a Slowley 13-yard run and then a deep pass to Willie Epps for a 46-yard touchdown. Another touchdown for the Owls came after a great punt return by Andre Privott which started the drive at the Bentley 16 yard line. Slowley ran in his second rushing touchdown from 2 yards out and gave Southern CT a 28-14 lead. A field goal on their next drive nearly put Bentley away, being down 14 points with only two minutes remaining in the game, but the Falcons fought back.

In the hurry-up offense Johnson completed 6 total passes to WR Wade Critides and Mike Sumrell before launching a 37-yard hail marry pass to Jeff Hill for a touchdown. A missed extra point put Bentley down 8 points with thirty seconds to play.

The special teams pulled off an amazing onside kick recovery to give Bentley one last shot at tying the game. Three completions for 23 yards gave Johnson a chance for another miracle play. He heaved up a 39-yard pass down the field to the end zone which Jeff Hill pulled in for another hail marry touchdown. All Bentley would need to tie the game would be a two-point conversion. Johnson dropped back into the pocket and threw the ball which landed incomplete, ending Bentley’s hopes.

SCSU RB Rashaad Slowley proved to be the player of the game with 30 carries for 102 yards and two touchdowns and also 4 receptions for 73 yards and a touchdown. Bentley WR Wade Critides caught 14 passes of his own for 102 yards but was left without a touchdown. Bryant Johnson finished the game with 275 passing yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

Bentley is now 3-2 in NE-10 conference play and 4-3 overall. They play at the University of New Haven and Pace University before returning home to play Assumption College in the season finale. Bentley is really going to need some help to be in contention for a NE-10 Championship.

They are currently tied for fourth place in the division behind New Haven (4-0), Southern CT (4-1) and Merrimack (3-1). Next week’s game against New Haven is a must win even though QB Ryan Osiecki is the lead candidate for this year’s NE-10 MVP award, leading the conference in touchdowns with 18 passing touchdown while in second place with 245.9 passing yards per game.

Assumption is 2-3 and Pace is 0-4 in the conference so a win over New Haven would be huge for their championship hopes, considering their final two games shouldn’t be as difficult. All three remaining games are extremely important to end the 2011 season with a strong record in the conference. Bentley will play at New Haven at 1 PM next Saturday, October 22.

By: Robbie LaBrie

As If a tree falls in the forest and nobody’s there to hear it, does it make any noise?

While the Milwaukee Brewers fought for the life of their season and the St. Louis Cardinals fought to reach the World Series on Sunday, week six was going on in the NFL.

It was a midseason slate of games for the NFL, not a playoff week or an end-of-the-season battle teams locked in a battle for playoff positioning or the first game of the year with new players on new teams.

Regular season games versus teams trying to reach the championship of their sport. Which one were you watching? Unless you’re a Cardinals, Brewers or passionate baseball fan, the answer is probably football.
And the numbers don’t lie. According to ESPN, the ratings for the NLCS were down 43 percent from last year, while ALCS ratings were down 20 percent.

There are many possible reasons for the overall shift. It could be media-driven. The networks may just prefer football over baseball. But it goes deeper than just a media problem. There’s really no more buzz around baseball games anymore. The media gives plenty of coverage to baseball’s offseason because people get truly interested in seeing where players are going. It’s more like a show than a sport, but when the season gets going and April turns into May and June, that interest fades.

The fact that there is fan interest surrounding the drama of baseball (trades, free agent pickups, coaches being fired, players drinking in the locker room) indicates that fans care about baseball, just not so much about watching the games.

Maybe it’s the slow pace and frequent commercial breaks? But at the same time, football has more commercial breaks than ever with the introductions of things like instant replay that allow for extra breaks. It’s also not a sport where there is constant action. There’s a play that lasts 5-10 seconds followed by 30-40 seconds of no action. Where is football’s decline?

Maybe fans just prefer a sport with more violence and physical contact like football, hockey and golf. Although golf, where there is literally no contact, didn’t see any sort of decline in popularity, at least until Tiger Woods was no longer relevant.

Maybe it’s the fact that there is no Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson in baseball. There aren’t really stars that average non-baseball fans know. How many baseball players now are truly relevant in American culture? Maybe A-Rod and Derek Jeter, but that’s only because of their past achievements rather than their play now.

You could make the case for Albert Pujols and certainly within baseball people there are stars. Anyone who follows baseball knows that Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw are ridiculous, but does our copy editor Alyson, who I really don’t think is an avid baseball fan, even know who Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw are? (No offense, Alyson.)

Of course, locally there are stars as well. Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury fit that bill in Boston, but how many national TV commercials have you seen them in?
Believe it or not, once upon a time, baseball players actually had a significant role in American culture.

Just in my lifetime, you had the great home run race of 1998 where Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa lit up ball parks everywhere. Ken Griffey Jr. was a household name and the big three shortstops, Jeter, Nomar and A-Rod received constant attention.

When guys like Clemens, Pedro or Randy Johnson were on the mound, it seemed like the whole world took notice.

Even a bit later, everybody hated Barry Bonds, but when he was chasing 70 home runs in 2001 or hunting down Hank Aaron’s record, ESPN would show every at-bat he had regardless of whether the Giants game or something else was on.

Recently Jim Thome became only the eighth player in history to hit 600 home runs and it barely reached the ticker scrolling across the bottom of the TV screen.

Just look at the Jim Thome situation. He hits 600 home runs and most people probably don’t even know it happened. This was the same guy who was a bona fide superstar in the 1990s. He was part of those Cleveland Indians teams that were absolutely stacked with guys like Thome, Manny Ramirez, Albert Belle, Omar Vizquel, Kenny Lofton and so many more. They were all stars and Thome shined the brightest out of all of them.

It’s the same guy. People used to love him and now they’re just disinterested. Did Jim Thome do something wrong? Did he offend the wrong person? Did he endorse Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 tax plan or something? No, people just don’t care about baseball anymore.

We’ve heard more about a few Red Sox pitchers drinking beer in the clubhouse than any other baseball related story all postseason. Is it just the media’s fault or is it just that people care more about gossip than actual baseball?

Baseball certainly has many issues it needs to correct if it wants to keep up with football and the NHL which has been gaining ratings over the past few years (RIP NBA). MLB needs to start looking at ways to attract fans and get people invested in the actual games again. Until then there’s only one question to ask:

If the Cardinals reach the World Series and everybody’s watching football, can baseball just be over already?

Coming into Friday night’s matchup against AIC, the Bentley Falcons (4-1) had won their last two games. They extended that winning streak to three with a 28-10 victory over the AIC Yellow Jackets (3-2). Running backs Bobby Tarr and Lorenzo Warren stole the show, each with two touchdowns for the Falcons.

Tarr ran in his first touchdown in from one yard out, capping an 11-play opening drive. AIC answered with a rushing touchdown on their next possession. A field goal by AIC before the half gave them a 10-7 lead.

On an AIC punt towards the end of the third, Warren let the ball bounce in front of him at his own 35-yard line, only for him to then pick it up and run the ball down the field to the AIC 1-yard line. Warren then finished the short drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.

Bentley kept running the ball down the field until Warren scored again at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Tarr scored his second touchdown with 2:40 minutes left in the game from 6 yards out.

An AIC comeback at the start of the fourth was halted when the defense stopped them on the goal line and then DL John Aminti blocked a field goal attempt, sealing the victory.

QB Bryant Johnson, who came into the game leading the NE-10 in passing touchdowns, failed to throw one against AIC. He finished the game with 165 passing yards and one interception. Johnson now has over 6,000 career passing yards, needing just over 400 yards more to pass John White for third place on Bentley’s all-time list. The Bentley running tandem of Tarr and Warren combined for 156 rushing yards on 31 carries, scoring four times. WR Wade Critides had another stellar game, pulling in 9 catches for 107 yards.

DE Sal Ruffino led the Falcon defense, making 8 tackles and racking up 3.5 sacks. As a team, Bentley only allowed 65 yards through the air and 165 on the ground.

AIC really struggled with committing penalties in this game. They were charged with 10 penalties amassing 99 yards. Four of the penalties were personal fouls for either pass interference or roughing the passer, each giving Bentley 15 yards.

The win puts Bentley in a three-way tie for first place in the NE-10 with the University of New Haven and Southern Connecticut State University, all with overall records of 4-1.

Bentley goes on the road this weekend to face Merrimack (3-1) at 1 p.m.

Bentley’s new approach to the game created one of the league’s top ranked defense

Ulmer and Solomon score key goals during recent road games

Falcons to host  American International College on Friday in third NE-10 game of the season

By Ben Klein

After a 31-12 win over rival Stonehill, the Bentley Falcons (2-1) welcomed St. Anselm (0-2) for their second NE-10 game of the season. St. Anselm had a tough time keeping Graduate QB Bryant Johnson under control and lost their third straight game 43-16.

The game started off very slow with neither team doing much on offense. With the first quarter winding down and the game still scoreless, Johnson again put the team on his back. He started the drive with a run for 16 yards. Back-to-back completions to Wade Critides and Bill Kiley gave the Falcons great field position going into the second quarter.

On the same drive, the Falcons found themselves on the St. Anselm 30-yard line and facing a fourth and 14. Coach Boerman decided the time was right to go for it. Johnson threw a strike to Kiley for 14 yards and the Bentley first down. A Bobby Tarr 12-yard run setup a touchdown pass to Kiley, giving Bentley a 7-0 lead.

QB Mike Pierce then led the St. Anselm Hawks 70 yards downfield for a touchdown of their own, capping a 10-play drive. The Hawks 2-point conversion was fumbled and returned for a defensive PAT by Aaron McFadden, the score now at 9-6.

Bentley ended the first half with two more passing touchdowns from Johnson. The first was a 27-yard pass to Mike Sumrell and then Kiley caught his second of the day from 14 yards out. A 23-point eruption in the second gave the Falcons a commanding lead at halftime.

St. Anselm couldn’t do much opening the second half, but a roughing the kicker penalty gave the Hawks a free first down. An 11-yard pass by Pierce and then an 18-yard run by Keith Charles gave St. A’s a first and goal. A sack by Matt Welch on third and goal forced the Hawks to kick a field goal.

A Bentley fumble later in the quarter that was recovered by St. A’s gave the Hawks a great opportunity to cut Bentley’s lead. On fourth down, Pierce completed a 36-yard pass to Marc Wilson, which was followed by a 2-yard touchdown run by Charles.

Johnson again led the Bentley offense down the field with the help of two major penalties committed by the Hawks’ defense. Lorenzo Warren ran the ball to the 1-yard line at the end of the third quarter, the score at 23-16. On the next play, Johnson threw his fourth touchdown of the game to Jon Wilkie, giving Bentley a two-possession lead.

Incomplete passes by Pierce ruined the Hawks’ next drive, and Johnson took advantage of the situation. Tarr ran for 13 yards to open the drive and then a pass to Critides gave Bentley another first down. Another pass interference penalty put the ball at the St. Anselm 30-yard line. After a run for no gain, Johnson threw a ball downfield to Critides for another touchdown, his fifth of the game and a new career high.

When asked about his achievement, Johnson said, “To be honest, I didn’t even think about it. I didn’t realize I had thrown 5 touchdowns until after the game when one of my teammates asked me.”

Luke Zahradka then entered the game for the Falcons and led a touchdown drive of his own. Passes to Jeff Hill for 22 yards, Bart Stires for 30 yards and a 16-yard touchdown pass to Justin Young capped the 94-yard drive.
St. Anselm’s chance at a comeback was ended when S Don Hopkins intercepted a Pierce pass late in the fourth quarter, the game ending at 43-16 in favor of the Falcons.

The two impact receivers for Bentley were Critides and Kiley, Critides catching 9 passes for 112 yards and a touchdown, while Kiley caught 8 passes of his own for 102 yards and 2 touchdowns.

“They both are great receivers, and we have a great group of receivers as a whole,” said Johnson. “They both are really tall receivers with great speed and hands, so they make my life a lot easier. I can pretty much toss the ball up and they will go and get it.”

LB Kyle Young led the team in tackles with 12, a new career high. Johnson finished the game going 25-34 with 286 yards, 5 touchdowns and 1 interception. He continues to lead the conference with his 13 touchdown passes.
“I think the biggest key to my success this season has just been taking what the defense gives me,” said Bryant. “I have really been focusing on letting my receivers make the plays. I really wanted to limit the amount of mistakes. We have so many weapons on offense that if we can get the ball in all of their hands we will be successful.”

Mike Pierce came into the game leading the conference in passing yards per game (289.5), but the Bentley defense held him to just 184 yards through the air. The Hawks’ offense only had the ball for 20 minutes, while Bentley had the ball for 40.

Bentley (3-1) will host American International College (3-1) on Friday, September 30 at 7 p.m.

“You have some mighty strong-looking workers here, sir… Now, when we sell their likeness for video games, how do we get around paying for our slav-, uh, student athletes then?” – Eric Cartman

College football and basketball are billion-dollar industries, providing at least six-figure salaries for its athletic directors, million-dollar salaries for its best coaches, millions more in revenue for companies like EA making NCAA video games and Nike and Reebok for producing jerseys, as well as providing the student athletes who go out every day and earn the billions of dollars with an income of… $0?

Yes, just like Mr. Blutarsky’s grade point average, student athletes get zero-point-zero. And if Eric Cartman, a fat cartoon eight-year-old, can see what the colleges are doing, you can tell we have a bit of a problem.

The story of A.J. Green is probably my favorite. He sold one of his own game jerseys to a dealer for $1,000 and received a three-game suspension, while the University of Georgia was selling Green jerseys on their website for $50 apiece and probably making a nice little 50-percent profit margin. Green clearly must have been selling on their turf.

The argument of the college football and basketball executives will always be that big-time student athletes receive a free education, and that if you paid college athletes, they would be no different than professional athletes and would simply sell their services to the highest bidder straight out of high school.

These are certainly valid points. An education is going to cost a typical student upwards of $50,000 per year for four years and a $50,000 salary for an 18-22-year-old kid isn’t too bad. Also, if you started just cutting these athletes checks, it would certainly damage the integrity of college sports, right?

Oh yeah, about that integrity… Ask Miami, Ohio State, USC, Mississippi and pretty much every big-time football program in the nation how that whole integrity thing is working out for them.

Clearly, setting up some sort of system where the players reap the benefits of a profitable program would be much better than some greasy looking 30-year-old buying strippers and vodka for Vince Wilfork and his Miami teammates.

The problem is that it’s just not enough to give players nothing and when there is inefficiency in a market based on regulations, black markets will show up. Yeah, Cam Newton’s dad is going to sell his son’s talent to the booster with the largest checkbook. That kind of thing is probably going to happen everywhere.

All that said, it would still destroy any remaining integrity college sports had if they were able to just pay their student athletes a salary. If you offer up players to the highest-bidding school, not only are you going to turn into the NFL/NBA development league rather than a separate product, but you’re also going to be taking money away from students at the universities.

This seems like a problem with absolutely no solution, right? Simply giving the students an education is clearly not enough in the context of a multi-billion-dollar industry, and simply cutting them a check basically destroys the value of your product, so is there anything you can do?

This is where the idea of trust funds comes in. If you set aside some of the profits that the teams are bringing in for the players, rather than for 10,000 extra seats at the stadium, or an extra zero on the end of the AD’s paycheck, you can allow the students to maintain their integrity of not playing professionally while they are in school, and you can compensate them properly when they are out of school.

There should be a standard amount set aside for each player depending on how long he was with the team and how much profit the schools are turning off that team. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as if Bentley is raking in the dough off of Bryant Johnson jersey sales, no matter how good he is, so only big-time programs at Division I schools should be forced to do this (and that also means pretty much only football and basketball programs).

After all, not all of these players are going to go on to sign multi-million-dollar contracts in the NFL. It’s easy to look at the NFL and think of how many of them were collegiate athletes (all of them), but you can easily forget about the players who helped make their schools a ton of money and didn’t get drafted.

These are the players who are essentially the unpaid labor in all of this. Guys like Kevin Durant, Cam Newton, John Wall and Adrian Peterson are probably just fine with the fact that all they received for making their schools millions was an education.

How about Gerry McNamara who helped lead Syracuse to a National Title and three successful seasons after that? He’s an assistant coach now, probably making less than $50,000 per year. I think Syracuse could afford to toss him a couple hundred thousand in a trust fund, redeemable after school, for his four years of effort.

Jamarcus Russell was beloved at LSU and made that school a fortune, but now that he’s probably somewhere flipping burgers, a trust fund set up for him probably wouldn’t be too bad.

There are certainly other ways to solve the problem, but with a new scandal popping up seemingly every week, what we have now is clearly a broken system. It’s time to step up and make changes because the NCAA won’t have any athletes to put on the field if they’re all suspended.

By: Louis Sherman

The 2011 Bentley women’s soccer season looks promising this fall, as the team has already surpassed their win total from last year, and then some. Now in the correct conference, the Falcons have been able to accumulate three wins in their first six contests, which is a 300-percent increase from last season’s total already.

The Lady Falcons made a statement in their first contest that there was not going to be a repeat performance of last year, as they routed Dominican College of New York 7-0 on September 1 here in Waltham.

Sophomores Sydney Spiegel and Patty McAllister each had 2 goals for Bentley on the day. Juniors Julie Pomponi and Molly Alfieri, as well as sophomore Chelsea Owens, also scored for the Falcons, as they had 30 shots on the day.

After a loss to UMass Lowell, Bentley went on to defeat Le Moyne and St. Michaels, both 2-1. Bentley was able to come from behind against Le Moyne, something that they struggled with last season.

Junior Deidre Leary and sophomore Jenna Skagerlind each scored in the last 20 minutes of play to overcome a 1-0 deficit to Le Moyne. Leary scored in the 73rd minute to even the score, and Skagerlind put Bentley ahead for good with a 30-yard strike in the 87th minute.

In the game versus St. Michael’s, Pomponi shined once again as she scored 2 goals for the Falcons, just 3 minutes apart from each other. Pomponi scored in the 43rd minute to even the score at 1 going into the half. She then came out of the half and scored again in the first minute to give Bentley a lead that they would not give up.

Freshman goalie Christiana Hynds has continued where recent graduate Kara Smith left off in net. Hynds has consistently kept the Falcons in games and looks to be a key contributor moving forward, as no opponent has scored more than 2 goals on Hynds, and that only happened once.

Looking forward, Bentley is currently ranked #10 in the East region, but with more solid play, they could move up those rankings and have a legitimate shot at going far beyond the regular season. Upcoming games for the Lady Falcons include Franklin Pierce (9/21), Merrimack (9/24) and Dowling (9/27).