NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – Bentley nearly rallied from 4-1 down in the 3^rd period at Niagara, but the Purple Eagles held on for a 6-4 victory over the visiting Falcons Friday night in the opener of an Atlantic Hockey series.

Junior Max French (West Kelowna, B.C./West Kelowna) fired in two straight goals at 3:47 and 8:27 of the 3^rd to get Bentley back in it, down just 4-3. The goals were his 8^th and 9^th of the season in just 10 games.

Niagara's Sam Rennaker though scored the key goal less than two minutes after French's 2^nd goal to give the Purple Eagles some breathing room with a 5-3 lead.

Bentley made it a one goal game again on a strike by sophomore Kyle Schmidt (Menomonee Falls, Wisc./Sioux City) at 14:34. Taking a pass from French, he skated in to the slot and shot around a Niagara defender top shelf past goalie Joe O'Brien.

That's as close as Bentley could get though. With the team's net empty, Niagara iced it with an empty-net goal by T.J.Sarcona with 48 seconds left.

Niagara led 2-0 after the 1^st period on goals by sophomore Derian Plouffe just 1:26 apart towards the end of the period. The second of which came on the power play with just three seconds remaining in the period.

Senior Derek Bacon (Calgary, Alberta/Okotoks) scored his 2^nd goal of the season for Bentley in the 2^nd period, as they trailed 3-1 heading into the final period.

Bentley's Atlantic Hockey record drops to 4-3-1 with the defeat. They'll look to split the series tomorrow night at 7:05.