Springfield, Mass. – Despite a goal by senior Luke Santerno (Smithers, B.C.) and 25 saves from junior goalie Fraser Kirk (Burlington, Ontario), American International defeated Bentley University 3-1 on Saturday afternoon in Atlantic Hockey action at the Mass Mutual Center.

Santerno's goal at 4:19 of the 3^rd period knotted the game up 1-1, but AIC scored the game's final two goals, the final one with an empty net, to pull away for the victory.

The goal by Santerno came after senior Brendan Hamblet (Hopkinton, Mass.) brought the puck into Bentley' offensive zone and swung the puck around the boards and behind the net. Junior Jakov Novak (Windsor, Ontario) dug the puck out, and spotted Santerno in front of the net with a quick backhand pass that Santerno one-timed past AIC netminder Jake Kucharski for the goal.

That tied the game 1-1, but just over four minutes later the Yellow Jackets went back in front. That goal came from center Elijiah Barriga, with defenseman Brenna Kapcheck on the assist.

Bentley pressed forward trying to find the tying goal, and with 2:20 left and an offensive zone faceoff coming up, Kirk came off the ice in favor of the extra attacker. 40 seconds elapsed with neither team scoring before Kirk came back on, and after another faceoff with 1:40 left the extra-attacker came back on for the Falcons. This time though AIC was able to find the net, with right wing Tobias Fladeby scoring with 1:20 on the clock for a 3-1 lead.

Kirk stopped 25 of 27 shots faced for Bentley, and after he stopped all 14 shots he faced last night, posted a .951 save percentage for the weekend.

Bentley's next games will be after the calendar turned to 2021. Those games will be against Long Island University, on January 2 and 3.