Bentley Hosts Niagara for First Atlantic Hockey Series of the Season
The Matchup: With the first month of the season and seven non-conference games in the books, Bentley will turn its attention to Atlantic Hockey games for the first time this season. The Falcons host the Niagara Purple Eagles for two games; Friday at 7:05 pm and Saturday at 5:05 pm.
Follow the Games: Both games this weekend can be seen on FloHockey.TV. A subscription is required.
Tickets can be purchased at the following link: https://www.etix.com/ticket/v/12892?cobrand=BentleyHockey
Live stats can be found at https://bentleyfalcons.com/sports/mice/2022-23/schedule
Last Time Out: Bentley split with Lindenwood at home last weekend. The Lions won the first game 7-3. Bentley trailed 4-1 but pulled to within 4-3 after a power play goal by Cole Kodsi at 12:19 of the 2nd period and another goal by Kodsi at 3:53 of the 3rd period. Lindenwood though scored at 13:12 to push the lead to 5-3, then scored an empty-netter at 17:11.
The Falcons though rebounded with a 3-1 win on Saturday. Freshman goalie Connor Hasley made 27 saves to earn the win. Freshman Stephen Castagna scored 1:00 into the game, and senior Josh Latta added a goal with 2.4 seconds remaining in the period for a 2-1 lead.
After a scoreless 2nd period, junior Ethan Harrison netted his second tally of the weekend at 2:22 of the 3rd frame.
Hometown Kid: Freshman defenseman and Waltham native Pat Lawn made his NCAA debut over the weekend in his own backyard. He played in both games against Lindenwood.
Lawn played prep hockey at The Rivers School in nearby Weston before two years of junior hockey, including last season with West Kelowna in the BCHL.
Hasley Named Rookie of the Month: Goalie Connor Hasley was named the Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Month on Tuesday. In five appearances, he posted a 2-1 record, to go along with a .913 save percentage and 2.45 goals against average.
He backstopped the Falcons to a 5-1 win over Maine on Oct. 15 in his first NCAA start. He made 33 saves in that game and was named the AHA Goalie of the Week for that performance.
On the season, he ranks 3rd in Atlantic Hockey in goals against average (2.45) and 4th in save percentage (.913).
Series History: Niagara leads the all-time series over Bentley 13-8-3. These teams played four games last season, all in Niagara Falls. Bentley swept the Purple Eagles in two games in the first round of the AHA playoffs. Bentley won game one 3-2 in overtime on a goal by Collin Rutherford 9:47 into OT. The Falcons then won game two to complete the sweep 4-1. Cole Kodsi scored twice in the 3rd period to put the game away.
Niagara won both regular season games last year, 6-5 and 3-2 on Feb. 4-5.
The last time these teams played in Waltham was in the 2019-20 season. That was a Bentley sweep by scores of 3-2 (ot) and 4-2.
Looking at Niagara: The Purple Eagles are 4-3-1 on the season and 2-3-1 in Atlantic Hockey. They played a home and home series with Mercyhurst last weekend. The first game at home was a 4-4 tie and shootout win on Friday. On Saturday they won 3-2.
The team's leading scorer is ? Ryan Cox with 8 points, on 4 goals and 4 assists. Junior Carter Randklev, sophomore Jay Ahearn and junior Oliver Gauthier each have three goals.
Chad Veltri has started five games so far this season and is 3-1-1.
As a team, Niagara averages 3.4 goals per game and allows 4.0 per game.
Up Next: Bentley is on the road next weekend at Air Force, for the first of three straight series away from home.