Bentley Hosts Air Force to Open Four Game Home Stand
Setting the Stage: The Falcons return to Bentley Arena this weekend to host the Air Force Falcons on Friday and Saturday nights at 7:05 pm to open a four game home stand at the Arena.
Bentley swept Canisius on the road last weekend and has now gone unbeaten in its last seven games at 5-0-2. That is tied for the current longest unbeaten streak in the nation with UMass-Lowell. The streak has seen Bentley shoot up the Atlantic Hockey standings. With a 9-7-2 record for 20 points, they are in 6th place, just one point out of a top-five spot, and they have games in-hand on the teams ahead.
Air Force meanwhile is coming off a sweep last weekend as well. They defeated Robert Morris twice at home in a pair of 3-1 games. The Falcons from Colorado sport an 11-6-3 AHA record for 25 points, which has them in 2nd place, two points behind leaders AIC.
The Matchup: This matchup pits Bentley's streaking offense against Air Force's stingy defense. Bentley has averaged almost four goals a game during its unbeaten streak. On the season they are averaging 3.12 goals per game, 3rd in the AHA and 18th nationally.
Air Force is limiting teams to 2.46 goals per game this season, the best mark in the AHA, and its penalty kill is also tops at 88.7 percent. Bentley though has also been playing some stingy defense as well. They rank 3rd in the AHA in fewest goals allowed per game at 2.79, and have only allowed two goals or fewer in each of the last six games.
Bentley is the only team in Atlantic Hockey in the top three in both scoring offense and defense.
Unbeaten January: Bentley completed an unbeaten January at 5-0-2 with its sweep of Canisius last weekend. The Falcons won the first game 4-2, as Tanner Jago and Jakov Novak scored power play goals in the key 2nd period, and Jonathan Desbiens and Drew Callin added goals in the 3rd frame. In the 3-1 victory on Saturday, junior Jake Kauppila scored the go-ahead goal to break a 1-1 tie with 8:12 left in the 3rd period.
The program record unbeaten streak at Division I is nine games (7-0-2), achieved during the 2013-14 season.
Pelino Stays Hot: Junior goaltender Aidan Pelino continued to play well in the sweep of Canisius. During the seven game streak, he is 5-0-2 and has posted a 1.81 goals against average and a .930 save percentage, and has stopped 173 of 186 shots faced. He was named the AHA Goalie of the Week on Jan. 15 after the sweep of Robert Morris.
Pelino has held opponents to two or fewer goals in six straight games, which includes series against Robert Morris, RIT and Canisius. He made a high of 32 saves in a 4-2 victory at Canisius on Jan. 25.
Series Notes: This will be the second series of the season between Bentley and Air Force. The first series was played in Colorado on Nov. 9-10, which Air Force won by scores of 4-2 and 4-1. This will be the first visit to Bentley Arena for Air Force. These two teams played in Bentley's final games at the JAR last February, which saw Bentley win the first game 2-0 and Air Force the second 4-2.
Bentley Notables: Sophomore Luke Santerno was named the Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week on Tuesday. He had a hand in four of the team's seven goals scored on the weekend, with 1 goal and 3 assists. Santerno leads the team in both assists (18) and points (26), which are both 6th most in the AHA.
Junior Jonathan Desbiens has netted one goal in four straight games. The Montreal native has a point in 12 of the last 14 games, going back to Nov. 17 against Army. He has 7 goals and 10 assists in that span.