WALTHAM, Mass. – No. 9 ranked Mercy held off No. 10 ranked Bentley 13-11 in the Falcons' season opener on Friday night.

The Mavericks were already playing their third game of the season while the Falcons raised the curtain on the 2024 season in front of its home fans.

Trailing 9-6 at the start of the 4th quarter the Falcons pulled to within one goal twice but couldn't quite overcome the visitors.

A goal by grad student Nick Harvath with 8:48 remaining in the game got Bentley to within 10-9.

Mercy got the next goal at the 5:32 mark off the stick of Greg Gibbons to restore its two-goal lead.

But Bentley fought back again and David Gagnon scored, with an assist by Conor Segreti, to make the score 11-10.

The Mavericks though scored on their next two possessions, with Brody Caskenette and TJ Heyder getting the goals to take a 13-10 lead with 1:28 left on the clock.

After a Falcons timeout, Mercy won the ensuing faceoff but a caused turnover by Kyle Piersiak gave possession back to the Falcons. They cashed in with a goal by Nicholas Thorn-Guillaro, with Alex Parton on the assist with 46 ticks left.

Bentley won the next faceoff wasn't able to score and Mercy ran out the clock to hang on for the win.

The Falcons were led offensively by Nathan Alviti with three goals and two assists. Segreti, Gagnon and Jayce Lambert each had two goals.

Defenseman Bryan Powers had three ground balls and two caused turnovers.

Bentley's next contest is on March 2 at home against Saint Anselm in a non-conference game.