Bentley Returns From Road Trip for RIT Series at JAR
The Matchup: The Bentley hockey team is back at home this weekend as the Falcons are set for a weekend series against the RIT Tigers at the JAR. Both games this weekend get underway at 7:05 pm, and can been seen on AtlanticHockey.TV, if you can't make it to the rink.
The Falcons earned a split last weekend in Colorado against Air Force. After they dropped the first game 5-2, the team rebounded in a big way with a convincing 6-1 victory in which they led from start to finish. In Saturday's win, five different players lit the lamp, led by captain Max French's two goals. Bentley will now come into this weekend's series with a 1-1 Atlantic Hockey record.
RIT began Atlantic Hockey play on opening weekend with a split at home against Robert Morris. After a tie against UConn on Oct. 15, the Tigers lost a pair of non-conference games against fellow upstate New York teams Union and RPI. RIT will enter the weekend with a 1-3-1 overall record and 1-1 in Atlantic Hockey.
Follow the Games: Both games this weekend can be seen on the new AtlanticHockey.TV. Click on the link to learn about the various price options that are available this season. Live stats will be available as well.
Notes from Last Weekend:
- In Friday's 5-2 defeat at Air Force, defenseman Alexey Solovyev scored for the 4th straight game to begin the season. He leads the team in goals with four. Solovyev also leads the nation in goals among defensemen at this point in the season.
- In Saturday's win, Max French netted his first two goals of the season. He had started the season with 6 assists, and at least one in each game. He's the only Bentley player to have a point in all five games this season.
- Freshman Jonathan Desbiens scored in both games; he's 2nd on the team in goals (3) to Solovyev.
- Freshman defenseman Connor Brassard scored his 2nd of the year on Saturday, an empty-net shorthanded goal. Bentley now has four shorthanded goals in five games after getting only one last season.
- Bentley is now 4-2-2 in its last eight games at Cadet Ice Arena in Colorado
Last Season vs. RIT: The Falcons and Tigers played four times last season, two games in Rochester and two games at the JAR. Strangely enough, each team swept on the other's home-ice. In mid-November in its first games at the Polisseni Center in Rochester, Bentley won both games 3-2 in OT. In the first game, Max French scored the winner with just 31 seconds left in the extra session. One night later, with Bentley trailing 2-1 in the 3rd period, Kyle Schmidt leveled it with a goal with 5:08 left in regulation. In OT, it took just 46 seconds for Andrew Gladiuk to score the winning goal and send Bentley home with the sweep.
However, in mid-January at the JAR, RIT got its revenge with a sweep. The Tigers won the first game 3-2. Bentley trailed 3-0 in the 3rd period, mounted a rally with goals by Schmidt and Matt Blomquist, but could not get any closer. RIT finished the sweep one night later. Bentley was within 4-3 in the 3rd period after a goal by French at 8:08, but RIT got a shorthanded goal by Josh Mitchell three minutes later, and another goal by Caleb Cameron to put the game away.
Series History: RIT leads the all-time series 19-11-2. The first meeting took place way back in the 1979-80 season, a 7-6 Bentley win in overtime. The Tigers have won three straight at the JAR, but before that Bentley had three straight at home, including a sweep in the 2013-14 season. Bentley is 3-7 vs. RIT in the last 10 games at the JAR, while the last 10 games overall have been split evenly at 5-5.
Up Next: Bentley will be off next weekend, before returning on Nov. 8 for a mid-week series at AIC at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield. The 2nd game of the series is Thursday, Nov. 10.