Bentley Takes on AIC in Home and Home Series on Thursday and Friday
The Matchup: Bentley takes on American International this week in a home and home series. The series begins on Thursday night in Springfield before it shifts to Waltham and Bentley Arena on Friday night. Both games begin at 7:05 PM.
Thursday's game will be the seventh straight on the road for the Falcons after they've played series against Air Force, Army and Sacred Heart the last three weekends.
The Falcons split last weekend at Sacred Heart and AIC last played on Saturday at Maine and suffered a 5-1 defeat.
Follow the Games: Both games this weekend can be seen on FloHockey.TV. A subscription is required.
Live stats can be found at https://bentleyfalcons.com/sports/mice/2022-23/schedule
Last Time Out: Bentley split at Sacred Heart last weekend with a 3-1 victory in the first game and a 6-3 defeat in the second game.
Nicholas Grabko made 37 saves in Friday's win to continue his run of strong performances and he helped Bentley's penalty kill go 4-4 on the night. They jumped out to a 2-0 lead with two goals, three minutes apart, midway through the 1st period. Josh Latta scored at the 10:09 mark, followed by a goal from Harrison Scott at 13:09
SHU scored at 16:04 of the 2nd period to cut the deficit to 2-1, but that was their only goal. Bentley's Cole Kodsi lit the lamp at 6:50 of the 3rd period with his fourth goal of the season.
On Saturday SHU led 4-0 in the 2nd period before Bentley fought back. Scott and Castagna scored at 5:25 and 13:19 of the 2nd frame, respectively, to make it a 4-2 game. But the Pioneers scored twice in the third period, in between a goal by Bentley's Eric Linell. Freshman goaltender Connor Hasley made a season and career high 41 saves.
Grabko Shining: Over his last three starts, junior goalie Nicholas Grabko has a .967 save percentage and a 2-1 record. He made 31 saves in a 5-1 win at Air Force on Nov. 11, 20 saves against 21 shots at Army on Nov. 18 and 37 saves on Friday in a 3-1 victory over Sacred Heart.
In four November starts, he posted a .945 save percentage and a 1.51 goals against average.
Where They Rank: Harrison Scott leads Atlantic Hockey in faceoff winning percentage at .618. He is 128-207.
Scott and Dylan Pitera are both tied for 11th in goals in Atlantic Hockey with five and that leads the team.
Defenseman Nick Bochen, whose 9 points are tied for the team lead with Pitera, ranks 8th in Atlantic Hockey in points among defensemen. Bochen's six assists leads the team and ranks 9th among defensemen in the conference.
Bochen and Tucker Hodgson are tied for the team lead in blocks with 17.
Series History: This weekend will be the 76th and 77th all-time meetings between Bentley and AIC. The all-time series is 31-30-14 in Bentley's favor.
Last season the teams split in the regular season in Springfield with AIC winning the first game 5-0 and Bentley the second game, 2-1 in OT on a goal by Matt Gosiewski.
Up Next: Friday's game is the end of the first half of the season for the Falcons. They will be back on the ice on Friday, December 30 to host Northeastern.