WATERTOWN, Mass. – Junior Alex Grieve (Calgary, Alberta/Westside Warriors) and senior Brett Gensler (St. Charles, Mo./Youngstown Phantoms) each had huge offensive nights as Bentley University defeated RIT 8-2 Friday night in the opening game of the teams' Atlantic Hockey series at Ryan Arena.

Grieve had his second hat trick of the season completed before the second period was finished, and added one assist for a four point night. Gensler had two goals and three assists, and in the process broke the school record for career goals at the Division I level, ending the night with 64 and breaking the previous mark of 62, held by Jeff Gumaer '09.

Sophomore Andrew Gladiuk (White Rock, B.C./Nanaimo Clippers) also had a big night with one goal and three assists, and goals were also scored by senior Justin Breton (Fitchburg, Mass./Boston Jr. Bruins) and freshman Max French (West Kelowna, B.C./West Kelowna Warriors).

Grieve and Gensler got started early and combined to open the scoring for Bentley with Grieve netting his 14^th of the season just 3:32 into the first period. Gensler picked the pocket of an RIT player behind the net and fed Grieve with a sharp pass in the slot, allowing Grieve to beat RIT goalie Mike Rotolo with a wrist shot for a 1-0 Bentley lead.

The duo combined for another goal toward the end of the period, with the roles reversed as Gensler scored the 63^rd of his career to set the new school record. Grieve played a pass off to Gensler on the left wing, who then ripped a shot into a tight window past Rotolo for a 2-0 lead at 18:19.

The Falcons then poured it on in a four-goal second period to lead 6-1 after 40 minutes of play. Grieve scored the first two goals of the period to complete the hat trick before 12 minutes were gone to give Bentley a 4-0 lead. French, and Gladiuk on the power play, then found the back of the net to make it 6-0 for Bentley, before RIT's Ben Lynch scored to make it 6-1 with 1:18 remaining in the second frame.

Gensler scored his second of the night and 12^th of the season 4:55 into the third period off an assist from sophomore Derek Bacon (Calgary, Alberta/Okotoks Oilers) to make it 7-1 for Bentley. Goals by RIT's Nolan Descoteaux and Breton over the remainder of the period finished out the scoring.

The Falcons improve to 8-3-2 in Atlantic Hockey with the win, while the Tigers drop to 5-6-1 in conference play. These two teams are back at it Saturday night for the conclusion of their series.