Bentley Returns to the Ice This Week to Face Brown and Holy Cross
The Matchups: After a nine day layoff Bentley is in action three times this week, beginning on Tuesday night at home against the Brown Bears of ECAC. The Falcons then take on Atlantic Hockey rival Holy Cross in a home and home series, with Friday's game in Worcester at 7:05 and Saturday at Bentley Arena at 4:05 pm.
Bentley was last in action on Nov. 15-16 against Robert Morris, and will be looking to snap a four game skid. Brown played two games at home last weekend against ECAC opponents Clarkson and St. Lawrence and came away with a split, with a 2-1 overtime defeat to Clarkson and a 3-2 win over St. Lawrence.
Holy Cross was in action last weekend as well with an AHA series against Sacred Heart. Each team won on the others' home-ice, as the Crusaders won on the road 4-3 but lost at home 4-1 the following night.
Follow the Games: Tickets for this weekend's games 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.
Last Time Out: Bentley was last in action against Robert Morris on Nov. 15-16. In the first game, a rally from 5-1 down in the 3rd period came up just short in a 6-4 defeat. The Falcons reeled off three unanswered goals to make it a 5-4 game after a power play goal by Jakov Novak, but RMU scored an empty net goal with 14 seconds left to seal the win.
In the second game, a 3rd period rally again fell just short. A shorthanded goal by freshman Matt Gosiewski with 3:09 remaining got Bentley to within 3-2, but RMU again hung on late and an empty net goal again sealed it.
Series History: Friday and Saturday will be the 69th and 70th all-time meetings between Bentley and Holy Cross. They played four times last season. Bentley won the first meeting of the season, at the Arena, 7-4 behind two goals from Jakov Novak and Will Garin. The Falcons then won the next meeting a month later in Worcester, 4-2, behind four different goal scorers. Among them was Michael Zuffante, Luke Orysiuk and Ryner Gorowsky.
The teams then played a home and home series in late February. The Crusaders won in Waltham 5-3, before the teams played to a 1-1 tie in Worcester one night later.
Bentley has beaten Brown in the two previous meetings, both played in Rhode Island. The most recent game was in the 2017-18 season, a 3-1 win behind two Connor Brassard goals and 31 saves by Aidan Pelino. The first ever meeting was in the 2009-10 season, a 3-2 Falcons win.
The Stories So Far: The Bears are 3-5 so far, with the wins coming against Yale, Colgate and St. Lawrence. Sophomore Justin Jallen leads the team with 7 goals, which is tied for the ECAC lead. Senior goalie Gavin Nieto has started six of eight games this season and has 63 career starts.
Holy Cross is 3-6-3 this season and 2-5-1 in Atlantic Hockey after a split with Sacred Heart last weekend. The leading goal scorer is sophomore Conner Jean with 6, and senior Neil Robinson has a team best 8 points. In goal, freshman Matt Radomsky has seen the bulk of action. He's started nine of 12 games.