Bentley Set to Open Atlantic Hockey Slate with Trips to AIC
The Matchup: Bentley gets its Atlantic Hockey schedule underway this week with a pair of games against American International at the Mass Mutual Center. The series gets underway on Tuesday night and concludes Thursday night, with both games set to begin at 7:05 pm.
The Falcons began their season on Friday at Bentley Arena against Merrimack of Hockey East, in a hard fought game that the Warriors came away with 1-0. A late scoring opportunity for Bentley as time expired, with an extra attacker on the ice, was ruled no-goal after a lengthy video review.
The Yellow Jackets already have three games under their belts. They split with Niagara last weekend, with the Purple Eagles winning the first game 4-3 in overtime, and AIC rebounding with a 3-1 win in the second game. They began their season with a 3-1 loss to Hockey East's Providence College on Oct. 6.
Follow the Games: All Bentley Atlantic Hockey games, and all home games, can again be seen on AtlanticHockey.TV this season. Bentley's channel can be accessed at the following link: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/bentleyhockey/
The cost is $104.99 for the season, and $10.99 for a day pass.
Last Time Out: Bentley opened its season for the first time ever at Bentley Arena last Friday against Merrimack. The Falcons outshot Merrimack 25-23 on the evening, but could not put one past Warriors goalie Craig Pantano. A first period goal from the visitors' Tyler Irvine at 18:02 was the only goal.
Bentley went 5-6 on the penalty kill and junior goalie Aidan Pelino made 22 saves.
Last Season vs. AIC: Bentley and AIC played four times last season, with the series ending 1-1-2. Bentley opened the season at home against the Yellow Jackets, and the game ended in a 3-3 tie, with Jake Kauppila scoring two goals, and the other came from Jonathan Desbiens. Two weeks later they met again, this time in Springfield, and the result was again a tie, this time 2-2. That marked the 6th straight game in the series that ended in a tie.
The Dec. 1 meeting in Springfield finally produced a winner, and it was Bentley 6-2. Six different players scored, including a penalty shot by Ryner Gorowsky, and a shorthanded goal by Matt Riggleman. Center Luke Santerno had a game high three points on one goal and two assists.
AIC won the season's final meeting, 3-2 on Feb. 24.
Series Notes: Bentley leads the all-time series against AIC 30-22-13. The series dates back all the way to 1980, when Bentley won the first ever meeting, 5-4. Among active Bentley players, senior defenseman Alexey Solovyev has the most points against AIC, with six (one goal, five assists) in seven career games. Desbiens and Santerno each have five career points against them.
Up Next: Bentley won't play on the weekend, but will be back in action the weekend of Oct. 26-27 at Bentley Arena against Holy Cross and UMass-Lowell. It will be the first game at Bentley Arena between longtime rivals Bentley and Holy Cross on the 26th, while UML will become the second Hockey East team to visit.