Bentley Set to Face AIC in Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals
Game Notes
THE MATCHUP: After sweeping Niagara last weekend in the first round, Bentley will get its long-awaited matchup with AIC in this weekend's quarterfinals of the Atlantic Hockey playoffs. The Yellow Jackets are the top seed and the Falcons the No. 9 seed.
In the 2020 and 2021 postseasons Bentley was set to face AIC in the quarterfinals, only to have both series cancelled due to Covid. Now the teams will finally get to face each other, with a trip to the Atlantic Hockey Championship weekend in Utica, N.Y. on the line.
The games will take place at the Olympia Ice Center in Springfield and are scheduled to begin at 7:05 PM, including if a game three on Sunday is necessary.
FOLLOW THE GAMES: Every game during the Atlantic Hockey playoffs can be seen on FloHockey.TV. A subscription is required.
Live stats will be available at https://aicyellowjackets.com/sidearmstats/mhockey/summary
AHA QUARTERFINALS: The other quarterfinal series this weekend will pit the No. 2 seed Canisius against No. 7 Mercyhurst. No. 3 Army West Point against No. 6 Air Force and No. 4 RIT against No. 5 Sacred Heart.
LAST TIME OUT: Bentley swept Niagara last weekend on the road in the first round of the AHA playoffs. The Falcons won game one 3-2 in overtime on a goal by graduate student Collin Rutherford 9:47 into OT. Playing only 20 minutes from his hometown of Tonawanda, Rutherford also scored in the second period to give Bentley a 2-1 lead. Junior Lucas Vanroboys scored the game's first goal at 4:38 of the 1st period.
The Falcons then closed out the series with a 4-1 victory in game two. They jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Brendan Hamblet and Kohei Sato just over a minute apart at the 12:24 and 13:34 marks. Niagara pulled a goal back less than a minute after Sato's goal.
The game stayed 2-1 until sophomore Cole Kodsi scored two goals in the third period to put the game away. He first scored at the 4:32 mark on the rebound off his own shot. He then made it a 4-1 game at 16:33 after he tipped in a shot from the point by defenseman Tucker Hodgson.
Graduate student goalie Evan DeBrouwer won both games in goal. He made 30 saves in game one and 18 saves in game two for a .941 save percentage for the series.
SERIES NOTES: This will be the first ever postseason matchup between Bentley and AIC. The Falcons lead the all-time series 31-28-14 and the first ever meeting between the two programs came in the 1980-81 season.
Earlier this season the teams split a series in Springfield in their only two games of the season in mid-November. AIC won the first game 5-1 but Bentley responded with a 2-1 overtime win the next night. Matt Gosiewski scored 56 seconds into overtime and Evan DeBrouwer made 30 saves. That was the start of a five-game winning streak for Bentley.
TEAM NOTES: Cole Kodsi's breakout sophomore season continued with two goals in Saturday's game two win over Niagara. He now has 10 goals and 13 assists on the season after 1 goal and 1 assist in 16 games last season as a freshman.
Grad student goalie Evan DeBrouwer earned his 30th and 31st career wins over the weekend. He lowered his season GAA to 2.53 and increased his save percentage to .916
Grad student center Brendan Hamblet played in his 150th career game on Saturday. He's the 3rd player in program history to reach that milestone. The program's all-time record is 153 games played, held by Kyle Schmidt, Class of 2018.
Senior defenseman Ethan Roswell ranks 5th nationally in blocks with 83.
Sophomore defenseman Drew Bavaro is tied for 14th nationally for points among defensemen with 27. In the AHA he is tied for third overall in points. His 18 assists are tied for second in the league and his 9 goals are tied for 9th.