Game Notes

The Matchup: The Bentley hockey team will go for its fourth straight win on Friday night when they take on AIC at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield, in the third matchup of the season between the two squads.

The Falcons reeled off three wins in a span of five days. First they swept Robert Morris by scores of 3-1 and 6-3 last weekend, then followed that up with a 3-2 overtime victory over 18^th ranked UMass-Lowell on Tuesday night to notch another road win over a Hockey East opponent.

AIC will come into Friday's game off a split with Niagara at home last weekend. They dropped the first game 3-1, but rebounded with a 4-1 victory in the second game.

Follow the Games: All Bentley Atlantic Hockey games, home and away, will air on AtlanticHockey.TV, powered by Stretch Internet. The cost for a regular season pass is $104.99, and a day pass is $10.99.

New this season, the service can be accessed using Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV.

Links to live stats can be found at http://bentleyfalcons.com/sports/mice/2017-18/schedule

Last Time Out: Bentley scored a big 3-2 win in overtime over UMass-Lowell on Tuesday night at the Tsongas Center. Sophomore Ryner Gorowsky netted the winner with 1:26 left on a backhander in the slot, after he drove into the offensive zone following a face-off win by Drew Callin in the defensive zone.

Each time UML scored, Bentley answered back. Trailing 1-0 in the first period, defenseman Connor Brassard scored at the 12:18 mark with a shot from just inside the blue line after he kept the puck in the zone after UML attempted to clear. In the 2^nd period, with UML up 2-1, Gorowsky helped create Bentley's second goal with a drive on net and a shot that was saved, but defenseman Charlie Marchand was free on the far post to poke in the rebound. That goal came with 2:24 left in the period.

Sophomore goalie Aidan Pelino made 25 saves to earn the victory.

Another Hockey East Win in the Books: With the win over UML, Bentley has now beaten six different Hockey East teams. The other wins are over Maine (2008-09), UMass (2009-10), Northeastern (2010-11, 2012-13, 2015-16), BU (2013-14) and UNH (2016-17).

Since the 2008-09 season, the Falcons have beaten a Hockey East squad in eight of those seasons.

Players of the Week: Before the puck dropped on Tuesday's game, Drew Callin was named the Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week, and Pelino the Goalie of the Week, based on their performances in the Robert Morris series.

Callin had the game-winning goal both nights against the Colonials, while Pelino won both games in goal, and posted a .938 save percentage and 2.00 goals against average for the weekend.

It's the third time in his career Pelino has been named Goalie of the Week (twice last season). Callin is the second Bentley player this year named Player of the Week, after Jonathan Desbiens earned the award on Nov. 7.

Earlier This Season vs. AIC: Bentley and AIC have already played twice this season. On opening night, the teams played to a 3-3 tie at the JAR on Oct. 10. Two weeks later in Springfield, they tied again, this time by a 2-2 score.

In the opener, sophomore Jake Kauppila had two goals, while Desbiens had the other. Senior goalie Jayson Argue made 33 saves. Both teams had success on the power play, as five of the game's six goals were scored on the man-advantage.

In the 2-2 tie on Oct. 24, the Falcons fought back from a 2-0 first period deficit. Defenseman Alexey Solovyev scored a power play goal in the 2^nd period, and Gorowsky scored the tying goal with 6:24 left in the 3^rd period. Argue made 30 saves on the night.

The last six games between these two teams have ended in ties. Both meetings last season (2-2 & 1-1, both played in Springfield) and the final two meetings of the 2015-16 series (5-5 & 2-2, both in Springfield as well).

In fact, Bentley is unbeaten in the last 12 games against the Yellow Jackets, with a 5-0-7 record.

Up Next: Friday's game is Bentley's last Atlantic Hockey game until Jan. 9 when they host Sacred Heart. Next week, the Falcons will visit two ECAC teams, Brown on Dec. 6 and Dartmouth on Dec. 9, in its final games of the first semester. After the winter break, Bentley is back on the ice on Jan. 5 to host Northeastern.

Tale of the Tape