MANCHESTER, N.H. – Hunter Smith and Will Adams combined to score seven goals but Bentley fell to Saint Anselm 17-12 in the first round of the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship on Wednesday.

Smith had four goals and one assist and Adams three goals and one assist but it wasn't enough to overcome the Hawks, ranked fifth nationally and second in the North Region.

Trailing 11-7 late in the third quarter, the Falcons scored two goals in the final minute. David Gagnon scored with 38 seconds remaining and Smith with five seconds left to cut the deficit to 11-9 going into the final quarter.

The teams then traded 2-0 runs that took up the first nine minutes of the fourth. Saint Anselm got the first two goals from Eddie O'Brien and Matt Lemay to take a 13-9 lead with 13:10 left.

Just under five minutes elapsed before Smith scored the first of two goals in a row. He found the back of the net at 8:13 and again at 5:52 as Bentley was within two goals again at 13-11.

Saint Anselm though answered with a decisive 4-0 run that pushed its lead to 17-11 with 2:11 remaining after the last goal of the run.

The game was tied 3-3 after the first 15 minutes as Bentley received goals from Alex Parton, Gagnon and Adams.

Charlie David scored twice for Bentley in the second quarter as they trailed 7-5 at halftime.

Kyle Piersiak had three caused turnovers and six ground balls for Bentley. Dalton MacKinnon had seven ground balls and a game-high 15 faceoff wins.

Bentley, ranked 15^th nationally and seventh in the North Region, sees its season come to a close at 8-7.