Bentley Blanks Sacred Heart 5-0 to Advance to AHA Quarters; RIT Up Next
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Sacred Heart (6-28-3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
Bentley (15-14-8) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
WATERTOWN, Mass. – Bentley advanced to the Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals with a 5-0, game three win over Sacred Heart on Sunday night behind five different goal scorers and a shutout by goalie Branden Komm (Williamsville, N.Y./Northfield Mount Hermon). The Falcons will head to Rochester, N.Y., next to take on third-seeded RIT in a best-of-three series beginning Friday night.
Komm stopped all 24 shots he faced, while the line of Alex Kubiak (Tinley Park, Ill./Chicago Steel), Dan Koudys (Grimsby, Ontario/Burlington Cougars) and Jared Rickord (Skokie, Ill./Springfield Jr. Blues) each had a goal.
Brett Gensler (St. Charles, Mo./Youngstown Phantoms) scored his 21st goal of the season with 48 seconds left in the first period that not only gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead, but tied Dain Prewitt's program record for most goals in a single-season at the Division I level. He added an assist on Brett Switzer's (Calgary, Alberta/Spruce Grove Saints) goal in the third period for his 47th point, which is one off of the program's Division I record for most points in a season.
Kubiak gave the Falcons a 2-0 lead at 9:20 of the second period. As the puck was swung around the boards to the far post of the net, Kubiak was there on the doorstep to knock it in for his fourth goal of the season.
Kubiak had a hand in the third goal at 18:02, as he won a face-off in the offensive zone and got the puck right to Koudys, who fired a wrist shot past goalie Andrew Bodnarchuk to make it 3-0.
The Falcons added some insurance in the third period on Rickord's goal. He made a steal in the defensive zone and beat Bodnarchuk with a wrist shot to his stick side at 7:04. Less than a minute later, Switzer made it 5-0 with Alex Grieve (Calgary, Alberta/Westside Warriors) and Gensler assisting.
The win improves Bentley's record to 15-14-8, while the Pioneers finish their season at 6-28-3.
The Falcons and Tigers have never played in the postseason at the Division I level. RIT took two close games from Bentley in the regular season in Watertown, 2-0 and 2-1.