Box Score North Andover, Mass. – Bentley outscored Merrimack in the 2nd half, but the No. 4 ranked Warriors rode an advantage from the 1st half to a 16-12 victory over the visiting Falcons on Wednesday night.
Bentley (3-2, 1-2 NE10) outscored the Warriors 8-7 in the 2nd half, but it was not enough to make up a 9-4 halftime deficit. Merrimack improved to 5-1 and 3-0 NE10 with the victory.
Merrimack started the 3rd quarter with a goal by attacker Sean Black, but Bentley then reeled off two straight goals by seniors Alex Astarita (Bedford, N.H./Bishop Guertin) and Sam Hurley (Medfield, Mass./Medfield) to make it a 10-6 game with 6:44 remaining in the quarter. Merrimack though then went on a 4-0 run, before Bentley's Michael Fricke (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Valor) scored with 16 seconds remaining to make it 14-7 at the end of the quarter.
Bentley started the 4th quarter strong. Hurley scored a man-down goal at the 12:53 mark, and Astarita found the back of the net at 11:09 to cut the deficit to 14-9. After goals by Merrimack's Black and Charlie Bertrand, Bentley closed the game on a 3-0 run. The goals came from Joey Tesoriero (Huntington Station, N.Y./Half Hallow Hills), Kris Campbell (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow) and Fricke.
Campbell had a hat trick in the 2nd quarter alone, and finished the night with a team high five points on four goals and one assist. Astarita, Fricke, Tesoriero and Hurley each had two goals.
Bentley will look to bounce back on Saturday when they visit Franklin Pierce.
