WALTHAM, Mass. - Senior Jeff Smrecek (West Springfield, Mass./West Springfield) and junior Bob Catala (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Yorktown) each scored three goals as Bentley College posted a 13-6 win over Post in Northeast-10 men's lacrosse action on Saturday afternoon. Bentley finishes the regular season at 6-6 overall and 6-4 in the NE-10, while Pace ends its year at 4-8 and 4-6.
       
The Falcons will be the five seed in the upcoming NE-10 Tournament and will play at the fourth seed (either Bryant or Saint Michael's) on Saturday April 29th. Pace came into the contest just a game behind Bentley in the NE-10 standings and a win would have earned the Setters a playoff spot, but Bentley jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.
       
Bentley would score the only two goals of the first quarter as junior Rory Anderson (Rye, N.H./Portsmouth) scored an unassisted effort midway through the first. Smrecek would score back-to-back goals, one less than two minutes into the second quarter to push Bentley out to a 3-0 lead. Junior Craig Cormier (South Windsor, Conn./South Windsor) followed just over four minutes later to make the score 4-0 with 9:19 remaining in the half. Pace would score two in a row, from Kenneth Lysik (Hopkinton, Mass.) and Robert Cornetta (Huntington Station, NY/Half Hollow Hills West) (Huntington Station, N.Y.), to cut the deficit in half with 2:12 showing on the clock. Catala would net his first of the game off of an assist from senior Ryan Bouchey (Troy, N.Y./LaSalle Institute) five seconds prior to the end of the half to give the Falcons a three goals lead a the break.
       
The second half opened with three Bentley goals in seven minutes to really end any doubt over the outcome. Ryan Gregory (Bethpage, NY/Bethpage) (Bethpage, N.Y.) scored a man-up goal with 7:28 to play in the third quarter to get Pace back within five, but two more Bentley goals made the score 10-3 late in the third quarter.
       
Pace scored through TJ Urban (Kinnelon, N.J.) prior to the start of the final 15 minutes, but back-to-back goals by Catala made the score 12-4 with just over 11 minutes remaining in the game. Cornetta would add two more goals for Pace, while Smrecek would score his third of the game prior to the final whistle as Bentley won its fifth game in its last six contests.
       
Senior goaltender Chris White (Billerica, Mass./Billerica) played well in his final home game, making 12 stops, while Thomas Duca (Waltham, MA/Waltham) (Waltham, Mass.) made 18 saves for the Setters. Bentley held a 48-24 advantage in shots and a 35-18 edge in shots on goal. The Falcons did a good job of limiting the Pace possessions in the offensive end as the Setters were successful on only 10 of 21 clear attempts.