Box Score WALTHAM, Mass. – No. 12 ranked Bentley rallied from as much as nine goals down in the second half, but could not quite complete the comeback as No. 13 Mercy held on for a 22-19 victory over the Falcons on Wednesday.
Bentley trailed 16-7 at 11:08 of the 3rd quarter but from that point on outscored the Mavericks 12-6.
A goal by Falcons freshman Natalia Dutkewych (Harvard, Mass./Bromfield) with 3:08 left in the 4th quarter brought them to within two goals at 20-18, their closest deficit since early in the 1st quarter.
Mercy though scored on its next two possessions to take a 22-18 lead with 1:29 remaining. Bentley scored once more off the stick of Kenzie Lupton (Canandaigua, N.Y. / Canandaigua Academy) with 53 seconds remaining but that was the final goal of the afternoon for either team.
After Mercy took a 17-8 lead with 8:46 left in the 3rd quarter with a goal from Jaclyn Grzelaczyk, Bentley closed the quarter on a 6-1 run. Maeve Johnson (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) had three goals during the run. Kathryn Slattery (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford), Betsy Norko (North Attleboro, Mass./Bishop Feehan) and Courtney Dermody (Bedford, N.H./Bedford) also had goals during the run.
That run pulled Bentley to within 18-14 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Mercy scored the first two goals of the 4th frame to open a 20-14 lead with 10:20 left.
But Bentley then went on a 4-0 run over the next six minutes, punctuated by Dutkewych's goal on a free-position shot with 3:08 left to make the score 20-18.
Johnson had five goals in the game to lead Bentley's attack, and Dermody, Lupton and Caroline Affolter (Newburyport, Mass./Central Catholic) each had hat tricks.
Bentley falls to 6-2 on the season and has its six game winning streak snapped. Mercy improved to 5-4.
