Charlie Marchand
Charlie Marchand

Bentley Travels to West Point to Take on Army This Weekend

Game Notes

The Matchup: Bentley will take on Army this weekend in West Point, N.Y. for the first of two series between the two programs. They will also play five weekends from now in the first games at the new Bentley Arena on February 16-17. This weekend, both games at Tate Rink Friday and Saturday night get underway at 7:05 pm.

The Falcons are in the middle of a eight games in 15 days stretch. They started the stretch with a 3-3 tie with Northeastern at the JAR, which extended the team's unbeaten streak to seven games. The streak came to an end one night later to Northeastern at Matthews Arena. They then dropped a 4-1 decision at home to Sacred Heart on Tuesday night.

Bentley had won four straight games on the road, over UMass-Lowell, AIC, Brown and Dartmouth, before Saturday's game at Northeastern ended that streak. Army is just 1-5-1 at Tate Rink this season. This weekend's matchup also pits Atlantic Hockey's best power play unit vs. its best penalty kill unit. Bentley's PP at 24.7 percent is tops in the league, as is Army's 87.2 percent PK. Both units are ranked 7th best nationally, respectively.

Army comes into the weekend with a 6-7-3 Atlantic Hockey record for 15 points, which has them in a tied for 6th in the standings. Since returning from winter break, the Black Knights were swept at the Big Ten's Minnesota, and tied with Sacred 3-3 last Saturday in a game played at Nassau Coliseum.

Follow the Games:  Both games this weekend can be seen on AtlanticHockey.TV, with puck drop set for 7:05 pm.

Live stats will be available both nights as well.

Last Time Out: Bentley saw its three game home unbeaten streak (2-0-1) snapped by Sacred Heart on Tuesday night 4-1. The Pioneers jumped ahead 2-0 with two goals in a 34 second span, which started at the 11:52 mark of the 2nd period. Early in the 3rd period, the Falcons cut into a 3-0 deficit with a power play goal from freshman Luke Santerno, but that was their only goal of the night.

Special Teams Battle: Bentley will come into the weekend with Atlantic Hockey's best power play at 24.8 percent, which is also 7th best nationally. They've scored a power play goal in six straight games, and are at 28.3 percent (13-46) over the last 11 games.

Army has the league's top statistical PK unit at 87.2 percent, which is also ranked 7th best in the nation.

Series Notes: Bentley and Army have played a couple of marquee games the last few seasons, and that trend will continue when the Black Knights will be the opponents in the Falcons' first games at the new Bentley Arena.

They played at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn during the 2015-16 season, a 6-1 Falcons win. Then last season they played at Frozen Fenway, a 3-1 victory for the Falcons.

The teams played just twice last season, with the second meeting at the JAR which resulted in a 5-5 tie. Bentley trailed 5-2 in that game with about 12 minutes remaining, but scored three unanswered goals to battle back for the 5-5 tie. Defenseman Chris Buchanan scored the tying goal with 1:47 left in regulation.

The Falcons last visited West Point during the 2015-16 season. They tied the first game 2-2, and Army won the second contest 6-2. That defeat snapped an eight game unbeaten streak for Bentley at Tate Rink, which was at 4-0-4 and stretched back to the 2011-12 season

Army has a slight edge in the all-time series at 25-23-13.

Up Next: After this weekend's series, Bentley is back at home Tuesday night to take on Sacred Heart again.

Tale of the Tape

 

 

 

Record

7-9-4 (4-7-3 AHC)

8-10-3 (6-7-3 AHC)

Goals Per Game

2.70

2.43

Shots Per Game

26.2

25.2

Goals Allowed Per Game

3.20

2.71

Penalty Minutes

12.8

11.5

Power Play

24.7%

16.9%

Penalty Kill

78.9%

87.2%

Leading Scorers

Luke Santerno (5-12-17); Kyle Schmidt (7-9-16); Tanner Jago (4-11-15)

Dominic Franco (7-13-20); Michael Wilson (10-8-18); Dalton MacAfee (2-13-15)

Leading Goaltender

Aidan Pelino: 6-5-1; 3.27 GAA, .895 sv%

Cole Burns: 6-7-1; 2.56 GAA, .917 sv%