WALTHAM, Mass. – Head hockey coach Ryan Soderquist has announced Bentley University's incoming freshman class for the 2011-12 season. The class consists of six players; three forwards, two defensemen and one goalie.

Goalie Blake Dougherty (East Amherst, N.Y./Bay State Breakers-EJHL), forward Alex Grieve (Calgary, Alberta/Westside Warriors-BCHL), forward Alex Kubiak (Tinley Park, Ill./Chicago Steel-USHL), defenseman Matt Maher (Avon, Conn./Westside Warriors-BCHL), forward Brett Switzer (Calgary, Alberta/Spruce Grove Saints-AJHL) and defenseman Steve Weinstein (Los Angeles, Calif./Vernon Vipers-BCHL) make up the class of 2015.

"We feel that our recruiting class will add depth to all positions this year," Soderquist said. "We have three extremely skilled forwards coming in with Greive, Switzer and Kubiak, who have all proven to be scorers at every level they have played. Defensively, Maher and Weinstien will add skill and experience to our blue line. Dougherty is a big, strong goalie who will compete for time this year."

Dougherty played with the Bay State Breakers of the Eastern Junior Hockey League for one season, starting 26 games and posting a 16-8-2 record. He was among the league leaders in both goals against average and save percentage; finishing sixth in GAA at 2.77 and fifth in save percentage at .921. His efforts helped the Breakers to second place in the league's Southern Division and a playoff berth, where he started all six games they played and went 3-3 with a 2.60 GAA and a .922 save percentage.

Grieve spent three seasons with the Westside Warriors of the British Columbia Hockey League, where he put up impressive scoring numbers. In 169 total games, he scored 69 goals and added 83 assists for 152 points. His best season was last year when he averaged better than a point per game, recording 78 in 60 games. That total led the team and was eighth overall in the league. He was also second on the team in goals (31) and first in assists (47), which was ninth in the league. Those numbers led the Warriors to a playoff appearance, where he had a 10-7-17 line in 13 games.

Kubiak spent two seasons in the United States Hockey League, last season with the Chicago Steel and 2009-10 with the Green Bay Gamblers. With the Steel, he was third on the team in points with 16, scoring seven goals and handing out nine assists. He put up a 5-4-9 scoring line with the Gamblers.

Maher will join Grieve, his teammate of two years with the Warriors, in Waltham. Last season he was the team's highest-scoring defenseman with 40 points in 60 games, and his 33 assists were third on the Warriors. In his first year he had a 2-8-10 line.

Switzer is the brother of senior defenseman Mike Switzer (Calgary, Alberta/Olds Grizzlys).  The younger Switzer played three seasons for the Spruce Grove Saints of the Alberta Junior Hockey league, racking up a 70-70-140 line over 146 games. This past season he was fourth on the team in scoring with 52 points (26 g, 26a), and was fifth in scoring his first season with 61 points, including a team-leading 31 goals. Additionally, he helped the Saints reach the AJHL finals each season and win the last two league championships.

Weinstein played with the Vernon Vipers of the BCHL for three seasons, helping them hoist the Fred Page Cup as league champion each year. Last season he had a 5-19-24 scoring line in 60 regular season games and had five assists during the playoffs. Two years ago, he put up a 4-18-22 line in 60 regular season games with five postseason assists. Remarkably, he amassed just 24 penalty minutes in 192 total games in his junior career, including zero during the 09-10 regular season.

These six will join a group of 21 returning players from last season's team.