The Matchup: More than eight months after the 2019-20 season was ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bentley University hockey team is scheduled to get back on the ice for the first time in the 2020-21 season on Tuesday night when the Falcons host the Holy Cross Crusaders at Bentley Arena.

Follow the Game: We can't have fans at this year's games at Bentley Arena, but fans can still follow Bentley hockey in a number of ways.

The first way is to sign up for FloHockey.TV, either a monthly package ($29.99) or a yearlong package ($150). That will give fans access to every game, home and away. Games can be watched live or on demand.

There are a number of ways to watch on FloHockey.

• Streaming on your desktop, or mobile device by downloading the FloHockey App.
• Stream the games using Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast, and Apple TV.
• Cast to your Smart TV. Supported brands include Vizio, Samsung and LG

Fans can also follow the game action and get exclusive content on social media.

Twitter: @BentleyHockey

Instagram: @BentleyHockey

Where They Left Off: When the 2019-20 season came to an end on March 12 due to COVID-19, the Falcons had just finished off a sweep of Canisius in the first round of the Atlantic Hockey Playoffs. The Falcons won the first game 6-1 as junior Brendan Walkom scored two goals, and defenseman Charlie Marchand scored the first goal of the game in the first period to set Bentley on its way.

The Falcons then closed out the sweep in game two with a 5-3 victory. With the game tied 3-3 late in the 3^rd period, two graduated seniors came up with big goals. Jonathan Desbiens lit the lamp with 1:26 remaining to put Bentley in front, and Ryner Gorowsky finished it off with an empty net goal with 47 seconds remaining.

The Captain: Senior defenseman Charlie Marchand was named team captain of the 2020-21 Bentley hockey team. He has appeared in 98 career games, and has notched six goals and 20 assists from the blue line.

The Calgary native also excels academically as a management major, with a minor in law. He has been named to the Atlantic Hockey All-Academic team three years in a row.

This marks the third straight year a defenseman has been a captain for the Bentley. Marchand follows in the footsteps of Tanner Jago in 2018-19 and Brett Orr in 2019-20.

Junior defenseman Ethan Roswell will serve as the assistant captain this season for the Falcons. 

Who's Back: Bentley returns four of its top five scorers from last season, led by junior forward Jakov Novak (30 points). Sophomore Matt Gosiewski (24 points), and seniors Luke Santerno (23 points) and Brendan Hamblet (22 points) are the Falcons' other top returning scorers. In all, Bentley returns 11 forwards from last season.

Marchand leads an experienced group of defensemen that includes fellow senior Matt Lombardozzi, who has played in 91 career games and had a career high 13 point last season. Juniors Roswell, Luke Orysiuk and AJ Villella, a transfer from Northeastern, give Bentley a deep and talented group.

In goal, junior Fraser Kirk is the most experienced returnee. He went 8-3-1 last season and had the 4^th lowest goals against average in Atlantic Hockey at 2.23. He was named the AHA Goalie of the Week twice last season.

Series History: Friday's game between Bentley and Holy Cross will be the 73rd all-time meeting between the two programs. The first ever meeting came in the 1981-82 season.

Last year the Falcons won all four meetings against Holy Cross, including wins of 4-1 and 3-2 at Bentley Arena.

Including two wins last season at the Hart Center, Bentley is 3-0-1 in the last four games against Holy Cross in that building.

Up Next: This weekend the Falcons are scheduled to take on Army West Point. The first game of the series, on Friday, Dec. 4 is set to be in West Point, and the second game is scheduled to be at Bentley Arena on Saturday, Dec. 5.