Falcons Close Out First Half at American International
The Matchup: After a sweep of Air Force last weekend and three wins in the last four games, the Bentley hockey team will close out the first half of the season this weekend with a series at AIC. The opener is Saturday night at Olympia Ice Center for a 7:05 face-off, and Sunday's game is a 2:05 start. Both games can be seen live on AtlanticHockey.TV.
The Falcons swept Air Force for the first time in the program's history at Ryan Arena last weekend, defeating Atlantic Hockey's western Falcons by scores of 2-1 and 4-1. Freshman goalie Jayson Argue backstopped the Falcons in both wins, stopping a combined 58 of 60 shots faced over the weekend. Junior Andrew Gladiuk, the nation's leading goal scorer (13), had a goal in each game, including the winner on Friday. Senior Brett Switzer had two points in each game, including a shorthanded goal that tied Friday's game 1-1 and two assists on Saturday.
The Yellow Jackets come in to the weekend after playing Canisius in Buffalo last weekend. The Griffs took the first game 3-1, but AIC had to settle for a 4-4 tie on Saturday after letting a 4-0 first period lead slip away.
Follow the Games: Newly rebranded AtlanticHockey.TV will carry every Bentley AHA game this season. Season ($150), monthly ($35) and single game ($10) passes are available. Live stats will be available on Bentleyfalcons.com and in-game updates will be on Twitter @BentleyFalcons.
Where They Stand: Bentley enters its final weekend of the first half with a 6-4-1 record in Atlantic Hockey for 13 points. That has them in fourth place, though every team in the conference hasn't played the same number of games. Its .591 winning percentage in AHA games is fourth-best.
Statistically in Atlantic Hockey, Bentley is third in both scoring offense (3.12) and defense (2.71). Its power play is tops in the league at 30.0% and is third best nationally.
Gladiuk has the third most points in the nation (21) and is tied for the AHA lead with Robert Morris' Cody Wydo. Max French is tied for fifth in the league in points (18) and tied for second in goals (11). Senior Steve Weinstein leads the league in scoring among defensemen (14) and is tied for third in assists.
On a Tear: Switzer has a team-high four game scoring streak going, racking up seven points (2g, 5a) since the series opener against Army on Nov. 28. Switzer enters the weekend with 98 career points (39g, 59a) and is two away from becoming the seventh player in the program's Division I history to hit the century mark.
Weinstein, who had a goal in Saturday's win, is likely next to hit 100. He has 95 career points (11g, 84a) and is 11 assists away from breaking the school's all-time assist record. Gladiuk isn't far behind with 87 career points (48g, 39a). He's looking to become the program's 13th player to notch 50 career goals.
First Half Trends: Some trends have emerged for Bentley over the first 17 games. They are 7-2-1 when scoring three goals or more, and 7-1 when allowing two goals or less. Friday's 2-1 win over Air Force was the first time this season they won when scoring two goals or less. When leading after two periods, Bentley has been able to close out games and is 5-1, but just 1-6 when trailing after 40 minutes.
Series History: Bentley leads the all-time series with AIC 26-21-4. The Falcons won two of the three meetings last season, sweeping AIC to close out the regular season 5-1 and 4-1 after the Yellow Jackets won the season's first meeting, a wild 8-7 win at the JAR on Nov. 8, 2013. Bentley has won six of the last 10 meetings and is 4-1 in the last five in Springfield. Captain Alex Grieve has 11 points (4g, 7a) in nine career games against AIC, and Switzer has eight points (5g, 3a) in nine games.
Up Next: The Falcons take the semester break after Sunday's game and have the following three weekends off. Upon returning, they'll head to Pittsburg to face league leaders Robert Morris the weekend of Jan. 9.