Falcons Return to Bentley Arena to Host Army West Point
The Matchup: Nine months to the day after Bentley and Army West Point played the first ever game at Bentley Arena, the two teams will meet again this weekend for a series at the new Arena. Friday's game gets underway at 7:05 and Saturday's game is a 5:05 start.
The two teams split that first series at Bentley Arena on Feb. 16-17 and both teams will be looking to gain valuable Atlantic Hockey points as conference play has kicked into high gear.
Last weekend, Bentley dropped a pair of games out at Air Force by scores of 4-2 and 4-1. Army split a home and home series with Sacred Heart. Each team won on the others' home-ice, with SHU winning 4-2 in West Point, and the Black Knights responding with a 4-1 road win the following day.
Follow the Games: All Bentley Atlantic Hockey games this season can be seen on Atlantic Hockey.TV at the following link: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/bentleyhockey/
Tickets for this weekend's games can be purchased at the following link: https://www.etix.com/ticket/v/12892/the-bentley-arena?performance_id=4013536&country=US&searchType=venue&language=en
Last Time Out: Bentley's series opener with Air Force last Friday was a one goal game going into the 3rd period. After Air Force led 2-0 after the 1st period, Bentley jumped back in it with a pair of 2nd period goals, which came from sophomore Luke Santerno and senior Drew Callin on the power play. Callin's goal at 10:38 cut the deficit to 3-2. The 3rd period went into the final minutes without either team scoring. Bentley brought an extra-attacker on with 51 seconds remaining, but an empty net goal by Air Force's Evan Feno sealed it.
Callin's goal was his 3rd straight game with a goal, while Santerno's goal was already his 12th point of the season.
Checking the Stats: Through nine games this season, Santerno leads the squad in points with 12, on two goals and 10 assists. His points total is T-2nd in Atlantic Hockey, and in assists he's tied for the AHA lead. Nationally, he's T-3rd for the most total assists.
Callin leads the team with 4 goals. Senior captain Tanner Jago is T-4th in the AHA in points among defensemen with 8 (2g, 6a), and Will Garin is T-6th in points among freshmen with 5 (2g, 3a).
Series Notes: This weekend will mark the 66th and 67th all-time meetings between Bentley and Army. The Falcons have played only Sacred Heart (73 games) more often. The Black Knights have a slim edge in the all-time series at 27-24-14. Bentley has mostly gotten the better of the series over the last 10 years. Since the 2007-08 season, Bentley holds a 16-10-7 advantage.
These teams will meet again this season on the final weekend of the regular season, with the series taking place in West Point on March 1 & 2.
Bentley Featured on NESN's New England Hockey Journal: The Bentley hockey team was featured on the season debut episode of NESN's New England Hockey Journal show. If you haven't caught it yet on TV, you can watch the episode in full on Bentley's Youtube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqbSsmw9yeM
The episode provides an in-depth look at the Bentley hockey program as they embark on the first full season at its new home Bentley Arena. Camera crews were on-hand during the season's first game against Merrimack, and coaches and players were mic'd up to provide behind the scenes access. The episode also showcases Bentley and its community as one of the top Universities in the country, as well as the Arena's commitment to sustainability.
The schedule for the rest of the month on NESN and NESN Plus is below:
NESN Airings
Date Time
Thursday, Nov. 15 5:00 PM
Tuesday, Nov. 20 8:30 PM
Friday, Nov. 23 6:00 PM
Friday, Nov. 30 6:00 PM
NESN+ Airings
Date Time
Saturday, Nov. 17 6:00 PM
Friday, Nov. 23 5:30 PM
Saturday, Nov. 24 6:00 PM
Friday, Nov. 30 6:30 PM
Up Next: After this weekend's series, Bentley is back in action on Nov. 23 and 24. On Friday the 23rd they take on Boston College at 3:00 pm, in what will be the first ever meeting between the two programs. The game can be seen on ESPN3. The following day, the Falcons head out to Worcester to take on Holy Cross for a 7:05 pm game.