UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Falcons goalie Gabe Antoni (Lansdale, Pa./Springfield Jr. Blues) made 51 saves but Penn State held on late for a 3-2 win over the Bentley hockey team Thursday night at the Pegula Ice Arena. Matt Maher (Avon, Conn./Westside Warriors) and Max French (West Kelowna, B.C./West Kelowna) had the goals for Bentley.

Bentley cut a 3-1 deficit to one on a power play goal by French 3:53 into the third period. Taking the assist from Steve Weinstein (Los Angles/Vernon), French threw a puck on net that bounced past PSU goalie Matthew Skoff.

Bentley outplayed Penn State for most of that point forward and had several good looks on net, but couldn't put the tying goal past Skoff. They had a power play start at 12:08 of the period, and Antoni was pulled with 40 seconds left to give them man-advantages during that stretch.

The Falcons scored the first goal of the night from Maher at 6:40 of the opening frame on the power play, his second power play goal in as many games. He took a shot from just inside the blue line, and with Andrew Gladiuk (White Rock, B.C./Nanaimo) setting a screen in front, the puck got past Skoff.

Penn State though scored twice before the period ended, coming from juniors Casey Bailey at 13:41 and Curtis Loik at 17:03 to take a 2-1 lead at intermission.

Antoni allowed just one more goal the rest of the way though, despite Penn State's heavy advantage in shots. After a goal by sophomore David Goodwin at 11:07 of the second made it 3-2, Antoni made 23 saves the rest of the way. He was named the game's second star.

The defeat snaps Bentley's two game winning streak, dropping its record to 3-2 on the season. The Nittany Lions improve to 3-1-2. These two teams are back at it tomorrow night at 7:00 for the series finale.