Game Notes

The Matchup: Bentley makes its second to last road trip of the season this weekend when they fly out to the Steel City of Pittsburgh to take on the Robert Morris Colonials in a two game series. The series gets underway Friday night at 7:05 pm, and concludes with a Saturday game at 4:05 pm.

The Falcons are set to play seven of their final 11 games at home, with the final three coming at the new Bentley Arena, on Feb. 16-17 vs. Army West Point and Feb. 24 in the regular season finale vs. AIC. Canisius visits the JAR for a series on Jan. 26-27, and a series against Air Force on Feb. 9-10 will close down the JAR. Bentley's only other road games after this weekend is a series at RIT on Feb. 2-3.

While Bentley has been busy of late, this series concludes a stretch of eight games in 16 days, Robert Morris has played just three games since Dec. 29. They defeated Lake Superior 5-0 and lost to Providence 2-1 at the Three Rivers Classic in Pittsburgh on Dec. 29-30. They last played on Jan. 9 and defeated Niagara 3-1 on the road.

Follow the Games: Both games this weekend can be seen on AtlanticHockey.TV

Live stats for both games will be available as well.

Last Time Out: Bentley dropped a 4-2 decision at home to Sacred Heart on Tuesday night. SHU scored the first two goals of the game in the first period, but senior Matt Sieckhaus pulled one back at the 14:54 mark, after he cleaned up a rebound in front of the net off a deflected shot from defenseman Connor Brassard.

SHU though scored twice in the 2^nd period for a 4-1 lead after two periods, which Bentley wasn't able to overcome. Sophomore Matt Riggleman netted a shorthanded goal at 5:16 in the 3^rd period.

Sieckhaus' goal was his second in three games. He also scored in the 3-3 tie at Army on Jan. 12. Riggleman has scored two of Bentley's three shorthanded goals this season. His other came in the 6-2 win at AIC on Dec. 1. Freshman Brendan Hamblet assisted on both goals in the SHU game for a career-high two point game. The Hopkinton, Mass., native has played in 21 of 23 games this season and has one goal and four assists on the season after coming to Bentley straight from the Rivers School.

Schmidt on Fan Ballot for Hobey Baker: Team captain Kyle Schmidt is on the fan ballot for the 2018 Hobey Baker Award. Fans can vote once every 24 hours through March 5 at the following link: https://apps.facebook.com/hobeybaker/vfh2018

Schmidt, with 105 career points, is one of just 14 active players in Division I to have surpassed the century mark in career points. His 48 career goals are T-6th most among active players, and his 17 power play goals are eighth most. This season, he leads the team with seven goals, and is tied second in points with 16.

Schmidt has been named a semifinalist for the Walter Brown Award the last two seasons, given to the top American-born player in New England.

Earlier This Season vs. RMU: Bentley swept Robert Morris at the JAR on Nov. 24-25, which began the team's six game winning streak and later, seven game unbeaten streak. The Falcons took the first game 3-1, behind a 2-4 night on the power play, and three different goal scorers. Connor Brassard and Drew Callin had PP goals in the first period to stake Bentley to a 2-0 lead. Matt Riggleman added a third period goal, and Aidan Pelino made 31 saves.

The Falcons then won the second game 6-3. After falling behind 3-2 early in the third period after an RMU goal by Michael Louria, they surged ahead with four unanswered goals. Defenseman Brett Orr scored the tying goal at the 5:00 mark. A goal by Callin at 10:58 saw Bentley take the lead and score three times over the final nine minutes.

Series History: After the sweep earlier this season, Bentley leads the all-time series 12-10-3. They are 5-8-2 all-time in Pittsburgh. This will mark the fourth straight season Bentley has made this trip. 2014-15 was a split, RMU swept the 2015-16 regular season series, then won a quarterfinal playoff series in three games, and last season Bentley won and tied. Bentley won the first game 3-0 behind a shutout by Aidan Pelino, and the second game ended in a 1-1 tie.

Up Next: Bentley will take on Canisius at the JAR next weekend, in the second to last series in that building. This will be the second series of the season between the two teams. The Griffs swept up in Buffalo on Nov. 17-18 by scores of 5-1 and 5-2.

Tale of the Tape