Bentley Set to Battle Big Ten’s Penn State
The Matchup: After a sweep last weekend of the ECAC's Rensselaer, the Bentley hockey team has another non-conference series coming up, this time against the Big Ten's Penn State Nittany Lions. The series gets underway from the Pegula Ice Arena on Thursday night at 7:00 pm, followed by the series finale one night later on Halloween at 7:00 pm.
This weekend will be Bentley's first games against a program currently in the Big Ten. Michigan was a member of the CCHA when they took the ice against the Wolverines in 2011 and 2012.
Follow the Games: A live broadcast of both games is available at gopsusports.com for $9.95. A link to live stats is at Bentleyfalcons.com, and in-game updates will be on Bentley's Twitter page @BentleyFalcons.
Last Time Out: Bentley earned its first sweep in non-conference action by beating RPI by scores of 5-2 and 4-0. In the first game, captain Alex Grieve broke a 1-1 deadlock at 9:09 of the third period, his first of the season, for the eventual game-winning goal. Sophomore Will Suter added a power play goal at 13:26 to make it 3-1, before RPI scored just 13 seconds later to make it a one-goal game again. But Bentley held on, and finished it off with two empty-net goals in the final seconds.
Bentley completed the sweep one night later. Senior goalie Blake Dougherty made 19 saves for the shutout and the Falcons netted three special teams goals, two on the power play and one shorthanded.
Opening the Account: Four different players scored their first career goals over the weekend. Freshman Kyle Schmidt had two goals on Friday and Will Suter struck on the power play on the same night for his first. On Saturday, freshmen Ryan McMurphy and Andrew McDonald both found the back of the net for the first time. McMurphy's was on the power play and McDonald's shorthanded.
Balanced O: Through five games, Bentley already has had 12 different players score the team's 19 goals. 19 different players have already recorded a point. After finishing last season eighth in the country in goals per game, the Falcons are currently ninth at 3.80 goals per game.
Goalie of the Week: Dougherty was named the AHA Co-Goalie of the Week on Tuesday after recording his first career shutout on Saturday against RPI. It was just his second career start. He shared the award with Robert Morris' Dalton Izyk. It's the second straight a week a Bentley player has won an AHA weekly award after Andrew Gladiuk was named Co-Player of the Week on Oct. 21.
His shutout was the first for Bentley since Branden Komm blanked UConn on Nov. 15 of last season.
Strong Start: Bentley's penalty kill units have gotten off to a strong start this season, going 27-30 (90%) so far. Since allowing three power play goals against Quinnipiac in the season-opener, Bentley has killed off 22 straight power plays over the last four games.
Looking at Penn State: In their third varsity season after elevating from club status, the Nittany Lions are off to a 3-1-2 start. After opening with a win and tie against UConn, they tied Alaska-Anchorage and lost to Alaska two weekends ago at the Brice Alaska Goal Rush. Last weekend, they swept Bentley's chief Atlantic Hockey rival Holy Cross by scores of 3-1 and 7-1.
Senior Taylor Holstrom leads the team with eight points (2g, 6a), while forwards Casey Bailey and Eric Scheid each lead the way with four goals. Junior Matthew Skoff has started all six games in goal so far and has posted a 1.96 goals against average.
PSU has three NHL draft picks on its roster, including senior defenseman Patrick Koudys (WSH), who is a cousin of former Falcon Dan Koudys '13. They begin the second season of Big Ten hockey the weekend of Nov. 21 with two games at Michigan.
Up Next: The Falcons return home next weekend to open a two game set against Niagara starting Friday, Nov. 7. That begins a stretch of eight home games over the next five weekends.