Falcons Host Rensselaer Friday Night at the JAR
The Matchup: On Friday night at the JAR, Bentley will welcome in Rensselaer from the ECAC for its third and final non-conference home game of the season. Friday's game also begins a stretch of three straight out of conference matchups, continuing next week with games at BU and UNH. Faceoff in Watertown is set for 7:05 pm.
The Falcons (5-3-1, 3-2-1 AHC) are coming off a weekend sweep at RIT, beating the Tigers by the same 3-2 score in overtime both nights. Max French had the winner on Friday and Andrew Gladiuk on Saturday. Bentley is 5-1-1 since getting swept opening weekend, with the only loss in that time to No. 13 Merrimack.
Bentley enters the weekend T-4th in Atlantic Hockey with 7 points, but they won't play another conference game until Dec. 1, at home to AIC.
Follow the Game: Friday night's game can be seen live on EverSport. The cost for a day pass is $6.99, while the cost for a season pass is $99. Visit this page to sign up.
In addition, live stats can be found on Bentleyfalcons.com, and live game updates are on Twitter @BentleyFalcons.
Recapping the Weekend: Bentley took a pair of 3-2 overtime wins at RIT and has now beaten the Tigers in 6 of the last 8 games. Goalies Jayson Argue and Gabe Antoni combined for 56 saves on Friday, with Antoni earning the win after coming on at the start of the 3rd period. French netted the winner with 31 seconds left in the extra session. French and freshman Jake Ahlgren had 1st period goals to stake Bentley to a 2-1 lead.
On Saturday, Gladiuk potted the winner 46 seconds into OT, after sophomore Kyle Schmidt tied it 2-2 with 5:08 left in regulation. Antoni made 36 saves to earn his 2nd win of the weekend. Tyler Deresky had a goal early in the 2nd period after RIT struck in the opening period.
French was named Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week (2nd time in 3 weeks) and Antoni Goalie of the Week (1st time in his career) for their efforts over the weekend.
60 Goal Club: Gladiuk's OT winner on Saturday was his 60th career goal, making him just the 7th player in the program's history to hit that milestone and the 4th to do it in the program's Division I era. Gladiuk also now has 12 career game-winning goals, which is a new school record.
In career Division I goals at Bentley, Gladiuk trails only Brett Gensler (73) and Jeff Gumaer (62) and is tied with Dain Prewitt (60). His 116 career points are 4th in the Div. I era, behind Gensler (167), Alex Grieve (128) and Prewitt (126).
On a Tear: French has been on a tear since missing the first four games of the season. In five games played he has 10 points (6g, 4a) with at least a point in each contest. He shares the team lead in points with Schmidt, whose 10 points have come on 4 goals and 6 assists.
Looking at RPI: The Engineers (5-4-2, 4-0-2) are unbeaten in their last six games (4-0-2), all in the ECAC. This past weekend they defeated No. 11 Yale 3-2 in OT and tied Brown 3-3, both at home. The unbeaten streak also saw them sweep a home and home series with rival Union the weekend of Oct. 30 by scores 5-1 and 3-2. RPI enters the weekend atop the ECAC standings with 10 points. In non-conference, RPI claimed a home win over Boston College, 2-1 on Oct. 11.
The Engineers are led offensively by junior Riley Bourbonnais with a 6-4-10 scoring line. Freshman Evan Tironese is next on the scoring chart with a 1-6-7 line. Freshman goalie Cam Hackett has started the last three games and has gotten the decision in the last four, going 2-0-2. Senior Jason Kasdorf, a draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres, started the first eight contests of the season.
Series History: The all-time series between the two programs is tied 3-3; all played at Houston Field House in Troy, N.Y. Bentley swept a two game series there last season, winning by scores of 5-2 and 4-0. Kyle Schmidt had two goals in the 1st game, and French and Will Suter also lit the lamp. Four different players scored in the second game, Derek Bacon had three assists and goalie Blake Dougherty made 19 saves for the shutout.
Up Next: Bentley has its final two non-conference games of the season on tap next week. They visit Boston University on Tuesday, Nov. 24 and UNH on Saturday, Nov. 28. Bentley won its only previous meeting with BU, 4-1 during the 2013-14 season. This will be its first ever meeting with UNH.