Bentley Heads to Steel City for Robert Morris Series
The Matchup: With just three weekends left in the regular season, Bentley will take its last big road trip when they head out to Pittsburgh to take on the Robert Morris Colonials. The series gets underway Friday night at 7:05 from the 84 Lumber Arena, and concludes Saturday with a 5:05 start.
Bentley's momentum was halted last weekend when they dropped a pair to Air Force. They enter the weekend with an 8-10-4 Atlantic Hockey record for 20 points. That puts the Falcons in 8th place and in position for a home playoff series, though the standings are tight with the top-five just four points away.
Robert Morris is coming off a split at home last weekend with RIT. They dropped the first game 4-1, but rebounded with a 3-1 victory the next night. The Colonials have a 12-8-2 Atlantic Hockey record for 26 points. That puts them in 3rd place entering the stretch run.
Follow the Games: Both games can be seen live on AtlanticHockey.TV. If you can't watch online, live stats will be available as well for each game.
Earlier This Season: This will be the second series of the season between Bentley and Robert Morris. The two teams met at the JAR on the weekend of Dec. 9, which resulted in a split. The Falcons won the first game 4-3, behind two big 3rd period goals from Max French. Bentley led 2-1 going into the final frame, but received a power play goal from French just 1:45 in to go up 3-1. The Colonials notched a power play goal of their own from Brady Ferguson at the 8:30 mark to make it a one-goal game again. Late in the game though, French scored an empty-net goal with 52 seconds left to make it 4-2, nullifying a late goal by RMU to provide the final 4-3 margin.
RMU though gained a split with a 4-1 victory the next night.
Series Notes: This will be Bentley's first visit to 84 Lumber Arena since last season's Atlantic Hockey quarterfinal series. The Falcons, shorthanded by injuries, won game one 4-3 as French broke a 3-3 tie with 5:11 left in the 3rd period. However, the top-seeded Colonials won the next two games to advance on to the semifinals.
RMU leads the all-time series 10-9-2. After this weekend, 9 of the last 11 games in the series will have been played on RMU's home-ice.
Schmidt up for Walter Brown Award: Junior forward Kyle Schmidt was named a semifinalist for the Walter Brown Award, which is given to the best American-born player in New England. It's the 2nd straight time Schmidt has been nominated. He's one of two nominees from Atlantic Hockey, and one of eight repeat semifinalists from 2016.
The Wisconsin native has been having an outstanding season. He's 3rd in the conference in goals (16) and T-6th in points (26). Schmidt was named the AHC Player of the Month for January after a 9-4-13 scoring line in 8 games.
French on Hobey Baker Award Fan Ballot: Another player having an outstanding season is Max French. Fans can show their support by voting for Max on the Hobey Baker Award Fan Ballot, once every 24 hours at the following link: http://www.hobeybaker.com/vote
Two weekends ago against RIT, French moved into 3rd place for career points at the Division I level for Bentley. He's at 131 coming into this weekend, which is 5th most among active players in the NCAA. French is also T-4th in career goals in the Bentley Division I record books, tied with Dain Prewitt. He's three goals away from passing Jeff Gumaer for 3rd place.
Up Next: Bentley is back at the JAR next Friday to take on Sacred Heart, in the first game of a home-and-home series. The Falcons will head down to Connecticut for the next night for the series finale at Webster Bank Arena.