WALTHAM, Mass. – Sophomore Colin Malone (East Patchogue, N.Y.) matched a career best with 21 saves, but it wasn't enough, as the Assumption University men's lacrosse team dropped a Northeast-10 Conference road contest to No. 16 Bentley by a 12-1 decision on Tuesday evening at Bentley Field.

Battling through bitter cold conditions, both teams struggled to generate offense and initially exchanged goals in the middle of the opening quarter. After Jackson Bach put the Falcons on the board first at 9:20, sophomore CJ Wiper (Sandwich, Mass.) answered back with a marker of his own for the Greyhouynds just 1:14 later.

Following several missed opportunities on each end, Bentley (5-1, NE10 4-0) took advantage on an opportunity when a Greyhound was called off the field for two minutes due to committing an illegal body check near the end of a Falcon clear attempt with 1:47 on the clock. The hosts took advantage of the non-releasable penalty when Nathan Alviti rifled home a pass from Luke Jaber with 32 seconds left.

Having the ball to begin the second quarter due to the penalty, Bentley scored on its initial possession of the frame to move ahead by a 3-1 score on a Ryan Birch strike. Utilizing the wave of momentum, the Falcons ended the quarter on a 3-0 run and held a 4-1 lead at the break.

Bentley, which won every faceoff in the first half, took the initial one in the second half and peppered Greyhound goalie Colin Malone (East Patchogue, N.Y.) with shots. However, Malone made four more stops in the opening two minutes, including one on a kick save from point blank range, to keep the visitors in the game at the time.

Despite Malone's efforts, the Falcon defense continued to give the Greyhounds fits and their offense continued to click. Bentley found the back of the net three times in the third and five in the fourth to come away with the 11-goal win.

Birch netted a hat trick to lead the offense for Bentley, which outshot the Greyhounds 60-25, won 14 of the 16 faceoffs, and had a 26-17 advantage in ground balls. Matt Crepeau scooped up three ground balls and Alex Parton caused three turnovers, while goalie Keaton Roarick turned away eight Greyhound shots before being relieved for the final five minutes of regulation. Cam Bartolomeo was 13-for-15 on faceoff attempts to start an offense which saw 10 players score at least one goal.

In addition to Malone's career-best performance, Assumption got a strong effort from Jack Galvin (Yarmouthport, Mass.). The sophomore picked up a team-high three ground balls. Sophomore Aidan Boyle (Westfield, Mass.), junior Justin Shanley (Milford, Conn.) and freshman Tom Raeke (Holden, Mass.) all caused a turnover.

Assumption (2-4, NE10 1-2) returns home to next face No. 3 Adelphi on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.