Bentley Visits UNH Saturday Night for 1st Ever Meeting
The Matchup: Bentley will travel up to UNH on Saturday night for the first ever meeting between the two programs. It will be the Falcons' 3rd straight non-conference game of the season, and also its final. It will also be the team's 2nd straight game against a Hockey East opponent. Faceoff is set for 7:00 pm from the Whittemore Center.
Bentley (5-5-1, 3-2-1 AHC) has dropped two straight; to RPI (3-2) and No. 11 Boston University (3-0) on Tuesday. That broke up a 5-1-1 stretch that included a sweep at Atlantic Hockey foe RIT. The Falcons are one of three Atlantic Hockey teams playing out of conference this weekend. They enter the weekend T-6th in the league with 7 points. Bentley is 2-3 in its non-conference games this season, all but one against Hockey East squads.
UNH (3-6-3, 1-1-3 Hockey East) dropped a 4-3 decision at RPI on Tuesday. In their last Hockey East game, they were beaten at home by BC 6-3 last Saturday.
Follow the Game: Saturday's game can be seen live on UNHWildcats.TV for $9.99. For those that receive it, the game can also be seen on WBIN-TV. Check with your cable or satellite provider.
Live stats and in-game updates on Twitter @BentleyFalcons will be provided as well.
Last Time Out: Bentley was not able to defeat BU for a 2nd straight time, as the Falcons were beaten at Agganis Arena 3-0. It was the team's first road loss of the season and the first time they've been shutout in the regular season since Jan. 17 of last season at Canisius (2-0).
Antoni Continues to Shine: Senior goalie Gabe Antoni continued his strong play in net, making 44 saves against the Terriers. Since coming on for the 3rd period in a 3-2 OT win at RIT Nov. 13, Antoni has gone 2-2 with a 2.35 GAA and .939 save percentage, stopping 124 out of 132 shots faced. He was named the Atlantic Hockey Goalie of the Week on Nov. 17 for his efforts in the RIT series.
Combined with sophomore Jayson Argue (7 GP, 2.38 GAA, .941 save %), Bentley's is allowing just 2.55 goals per game this season, T-21st nationally and 3rd in Atlantic Hockey.
Bentley vs. Hockey East: Bentley has a 7-10 record all-time in games played against schools played in Hockey East. A 4-2 record against Northeastern, 1-1 vs. Boston Univ., 0-2 vs. Merrimack, 1-1 vs. UMass and 0-5 vs. UMass-Lowell.
Looking at UNH: The Wildcats have are 3-6-3 overall and 1-1-3 in Hockey East. In conference play, they've beaten and tied Merrimack (4-2, 3-3), tied UMass twice (6-6, 2-2) and fallen to BC (6-3). One of the highest scoring teams in Hockey East, the Wildcats average 3.50 goals per game (3rd in Hockey East) and convert 23.3 % of their power plays (1st), but also concede 3.92 goals per game (12th).
Bentley will have to contend with the high scoring duo of sophomore Andrew Poturalski (11-12-23) and junior Tyler Kelleher (6-16-22). Not only the top-two point getters in Hockey East, Poturalski leads the nation in points and goals and Kelleher leads in assists.
UNH also features sophomore Shane Eiserman, younger brother of Bentley co-captain defenseman Billy Eiserman.
Up Next: The Falcons return to Atlantic Hockey play on Tuesday, Dec. 1 when they host AIC at the JAR for the first of four meetings this season between the two squads. It will be AIC's first visit since the 2013-14 season. Bentley tied (4-4) and beat (5-2) the Yellow Jackets in two games in Springfield last season.