Game Notes

Setting the Stage: The Falcons hockey team is back at Bentley Arena this weekend to host the Mercyhurst Lakers for a pair of games. It will be the first home, Atlantic Hockey series Bentley has hosted this season. Both games on Friday and Saturday begin at 7:05 pm.

Bentley comes into the weekend at 2-3 overall and 1-2 AHA, and the Lakers are 2-4 overall and will be playing their first AHA games of the season. The Falcons are coming off a split weekend at home. A convincing 5-0 victory over Army West Point was followed by a 3-0 defeat St. Lawrence in a non-conference game. Mercyhurst was swept by Ohio State last weekend.

Watch the Games: Tickets to both games this weekend are available at the following link: https://www.etix.com/ticket/v/12892/the-bentley-arena

If you can't make it to the Arena, watch the games on FloHockey.TV, the new streaming partner of Atlantic Hockey.

Subscriptions start at $12.50/month and games can be watched live or on demand. Games can be watched on your desktop, or on the FloHockey app on your device of choice.

The Story So Far: Bentley began the season at Robert Morris and dropped both games despite outshooting the Colonials by 19 in the first game and 24 in the second. They responded with a 3-2 OT victory over UNH on Oct. 18 as Jakov Novak scored the OT winner. That led to last weekend's split.

Mercyhurst has played three non-conference series so far. They split at Arizona State on opening weekend, then split with St. Lawrence at home on Oct. 11-12. Last weekend they were swept by 13^th ranked Ohio State.

Last Time Out: Bentley erupted for a 5-0 victory over Army West Point. Jakov Novak and Michael Zuffante each had two goals. They both scored in the first and third periods, and Novak's goal in the 1^st frame was shorthanded. Junior Brendan Hamblet added a goal in the 3^rd period.

Senior goalie Aidan Pelino made 25 saves for his 4^th career shutout.

Leading the Way Early On: Novak is one of four skaters that shares the AHA lead in goals thus far with four. He is joined by RIT's Shawn Cameron and Sacred Heart's Jason Cotton and Matt Tugnutt.

100 Games Mark: The next game senior Ryner Gorowsky plays will be the 100^th of his career. Five others on the team, all seniors as well, have surpassed the 100 games milestone; Jake Kauppila, Jonathan Desbiens, Brett Orr, Matt Riggleman and Connor Brassard.

Series History: This weekend will be the 64^th and 65^th all-time meetings between the two programs. Mercyhurst has won three straight, and the last six games in the series have been hosted by Bentley. The last time these teams played in Erie was the 2015-16 season, which was a series split. These teams will meet again later this season in Erie on Jan. 24-25.

Up Next: Bentley will head out to the Rocky Mountains for two games at Air Force next Friday and Saturday. Both games will be a 9:05 Eastern Time start.