WALTHAM, Mass. - In front of the largest home crowd ever for a Bentley University soccer game, the Falcons sent the fans home happy on Homecoming Day and Senior Day with a 1-0 win over Northeast-10 foe Merrimack. Freshman Cody Osgood (Harvard, Mass./Bromfield School) scored the game's only goal in the 72nd minute.

The Falcons further strengthen their playoff position with the win and overtake Le Moyne for fourth place, which lost at Stonehill today. Bentley's record is now 9-2-4 overall and 6-1-4 in the NE-10, and they finish the regular season unbeaten at home at 7-0-1. Merrimack drops to 9-5-1 overall and 5-5-1 in the conference.

In a defensive game short on scoring chances, Osgood took advantage of a defensive play by Merrimack to score. The Warrior defense blocked a shot from just outside the box, but Osgood was in the right place to gather the loose ball and fire a shot past Merrimack goalie Mattias Drummond for the winner.

Merrimack put on heavy pressure in the game's final minutes, but Falcon goalie Mike Nikiforov (Framingham, Mass./Framingham) came up with two huge saves. First he deflected away a long shot by Evan Burokas that was headed for the upper left hand corner of the net. Just over a minute later, Alejandro Fuchs rifled a shot from 20 yards away that Nikiforov tipped over the crossbar. The Warriors had another golden opportunity to score with just over a minute left, but were ruled offside.

Nikiforov earned his seventh win of the season and sixth shutout.

The Falcons begin to close out the regular season on Tuesday afternoon at Saint Anselm.

Box score

At Waltham, Mass.

Merrimack (9-5-1, 5-5-1 NE-10)                  0   0   --   0

Bentley (9-2-4, 6-1-4 NE-10)                      0   1   --   1

Scoring: B, Cody Osgood (unassisted) 71:39

Shots: B, 7; M, 7

Saves: B, Mike Nikiforov 2; M, Mattias Drummond 2

Corner kicks: B, 1; M, 9

Fouls: B, 13; M, 10

Offsides: B, 1; M, 2