Bentley Returns Home to Face RIT
The Matchup: After playing its last six games on the road over five weeks, Bentley returns home to Ryan Arena this weekend to take on the RIT Tigers. Both games begin at 7:05 and can be seen live on AtlanticHockey.TV.
Bentley's latest road trip to Canisius last weekend resulted in a 2-2 tie and a 2-0 defeat, leaving Bentley with an 8-6-3 Atlantic Hockey record after 17 games, with 11 games remaining in the regular season. The goals on Friday came from Alex Kubiak, shorthanded, and Andrew Gladiuk on the power play.
RIT swept Sacred Heart last weekend on the road by scores of 4-1 and 3-1. The Tigers are unbeaten in their last four games after getting a tie and win at home against AIC the previous weekend. RIT is 7-5-4 in Atlantic Hockey play entering the weekend.
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: With six weekends left in the regular season, Bentley has 19 points in the AHA. That has them in a tie for fourth-place with rival Holy Cross. The top-three in the standings are Robert Morris (27 points), Canisius (23) and Mercyhurst (22). The top-five teams at the end of the season get a bye to the AHA quarterfinals.
RIT enters the weekend in a tie for sixth with Air Force. Both clubs are just one point behind Bentley and Holy Cross with 18.
Gladiuk Joins 50 Goal Club: Gladiuk scored his 50th career goal on Friday against Canisius in his 91st career game. That makes him the 12th player in school history to hit 50 career goals, and he's just the 5th player to do it at the Division I level, joining Brett Gensler (73), Jeff Gumear (62) Dain Prewitt (60) and Alex Grieve (53).
The goal also came on the power play, which was the 26th of his career. That ties the program's career record, held by Richard Starck '96. He set the program's single-season record for power play goals last season with 16.
Argue Near the Top: Freshman goalie Jayson Argue has put himself near the top of the national goalkeeping statistics. In nine starts and 548 minutes of action, he's posted a .944 save percentage and 1.75 goals against average. That puts him 7th in GAA and 3rd in save percentage. His record is 4-3-2 on the season with one shutout. He's allowed two or fewer goals in eight of his nine starts.
Series History: RIT leads the all-time series 16-8-2. Bentley swept last year's series at the JAR, outscoring the Tigers 12-3 in 8-2 and 4-1 wins. In the first game, captain Alex Grieve notched his second career hat trick, and Brett Gensler had five points. In the second game, Gladiuk was one of the goal scorers, and defenseman Matt Blomquist had two assists.
These two programs met in the 2012 AHA quarterfinals, an epic three-game series in which the Tigers prevailed in Rochester. The underdog Falcons grabbed the first game 4-1. After trailing 4-1 in game two, Bentley mounted a comeback to tie it 4-4, only to sufferer a heartbreaker in double overtime 5-4. RIT then won the next night 3-0.
Grieve leads all active Bentley players in points against the Tigers. He has five goals and three assists in nine games. Senior Brett Switzer has three goals and four assists in seven games.
Vote for Gladiuk & French: Gladiuk and teammate, sophomore Max French, are on the fan ballot portion for the Hobey Baker Award, the most prestigious award in college hockey. Both are in the top-10 nationally in goals scored, with Gladiuk tied for 5th (15) and French is tied for 8th (14). Gladiuk is also tied for 5th in points (29).
Fans can vote once a day until March 8 at the following link: Hobey Baker Fan Vote
Up Next: Bentley is back on the road next weekend to visit Mercyhurst in Erie, Pa. These two teams played in mid-November at the JAR, with a 4-4 tie and a 5-4 Bentley win in OT, as Gladiuk scored the game-winner to finish a hat trick.