Bentley Looks to Extend Winning Streak vs. Mercyhurst at Home
The Matchup: Winners of three games in a row, Bentley will look to extend its streak this weekend when they host Mercyhurst for two games at Bentley Arena. Both games get underway at 7:05 pm on Friday and Saturday nights.
The Falcons swept last weekend, defeating both Boston College and Holy Cross by 4-2 scores on the road. In fact, the first win of the streak, against Army on Nov. 17, was by a 4-2 score as well. The win over the Eagles came in the first ever meeting between the two programs, while the victory over the Crusaders came with two Atlantic Hockey points and improved the team's record to 2-0 against their rivals from Worcester this season.
Mercyhurst comes into this weekend after they dropped a home and home series to Robert Morris last weekend. They dropped the first game on the road 3-1, before they fell 7-1 at home in the series finale. Those results snapped a five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1) they had carried into the series.
Bentley enters the weekend with a 4-5-1 Atlantic Hockey record for 9 points, which has them in a four-way tie for 5th place, along with RIT, Robert Morris and Canisius, in the tightly bunched standings. Mercyhurst is in 9th place with 7 points with a 3-4-1 record. Niagara leads the pack so far with 15 points from a 7-4-1 record.
Another Notch: Bentley's win over BC last Friday marked the 10th time since the 2008-09 season they have beaten a team from Hockey East. The wins have come against seven different teams; BC, UMass-Lowell, UNH, Northeastern, BU, UMass and Maine.
Bentley received goals from four different players and 23 stops by junior netminder Aidan Pelino. In the 2nd period, Bentley struck twice on the power play, with the goals coming from senior captain Tanner Jago and freshman Will Garin. A 3rd period goal by sophomore defenseman Matt Lombardozzi, the first of his career, proved to the difference after BC scored two goals late. An empty net goal by Jake Kauppila with 1:07 remaining sealed it.
Three in a Row: The 4-2 win over Holy Cross one night later made it three wins a row. Trailing 1-0 after the 1st period, the Falcons did their damage in the 2nd period with three goals. Sophomore Michael Zuffante scored just 1:29 in, on the power play. That was followed by two straight goals by defensemen, freshman Luke Orysiuk and senior Alexey Solovyev. Orysiuk was playing in just his 2nd career game after returning from an injury, while Solovyev's goal was his 4th of the season. Junior Ryner Gorowsky added a goal in the 3rd period with 3:20 remaining.
Balanced Scoring: Of the 12 goals Bentley has scored during its win streak, they have been scored by 10 different players. Only Zuffante and Solovyev have scored twice.
The team's leading goal scorer is senior Drew Callin with five. Seven other players have at least three goals.
Series Notes: Bentley and Mercyhurst have split the last three series they have played. They have met for just one series the last two seasons, and will meet only once again this season. In last year's series played at the JAR in late October, Bentley won the first game 4-3 as defenseman Connor Brassard scored to break a 3-3 tie with 6:09 remaining. The Lakers took the second game 2-0.
Bentley hasn't visited Erie the 2015-16 season, which was a split series as well.
Up Next: Bentley will close out the first half of the season on Tuesday when they host Harvard at the Arena for the first time. It will be the first meeting between the two teams since the 2016-17 season. All previous four games between the teams have been hosted by Harvard. Bentley will be off until Dec. 30 at UNH following Tuesday's game.