Bentley Begins Road Swing with Visit to Air Force
The Matchup: Bentley visits Air Force this weekend out in Colorado for the first of three straight series on the road. Friday's game begins at 9:05 PM eastern time and Saturday's game begins at 10:07 PM eastern.
Bentley is coming off its first Atlantic Hockey series of the season last weekend against Niagara, but the Purple Eagles were able to come away with both games. Air Force comes into the weekend with a 5-4-1 overall record and 1-1 in Atlantic Hockey. Their last four games have been non-conference. They swept Alaska-Anchorage at home last weekend and split with Colorado College. Their only AHA games of the season so far were at home against RIT on Oct. 20-21 and they split the series.
Follow the Games: Both games this weekend can be seen on FloHockey.TV. A subscription is required.
For those living in Colorado, Saturday's game will be broadcast on Altitude TV.
Live stats can be found at https://bentleyfalcons.com/sports/mice/2022-23/schedule
Last Time Out: Bentley dropped a pair of games at home against Niagara last weekend. The Purple Eagles won the first game 6-0, then hung on for a 4-2 win in the second game.
In the second game, Dylan Pitera gave Bentley the lead with a goal at 7:23 of the 1st period. Niagara though scored twice later in the period, at 17:31 and 17:54 to take the lead. A 2nd period goal gave them a 3-1 lead. Cole Kodsi scored on a breakaway goal at 17:24 of the 3rd period to make it a 3-2 game, but Niagara scored an empty-netter with 20 seconds remaining.
Bentley had a 34-19 edge in shots.
The goals by Pitera and Kodsi were the third of the season for both.
Freshman Making an Impact: Seven of Bentley's nine freshman have played in at least four games so far. Forward Stephen Castagna has played in all nine games, followed by forward Nicholas Niemo with eight. Forward Arlo Merritt and defenseman Ryan Nause have each played in seven. Castagna has two goals and one assist and Niemo one goal and two assists so far.
Goalie Connor Hasley has played in six games, with four starts and has a 2-2 record.
Hometown Kid: Freshman defenseman and Waltham native Pat Lawn has played in the last four games, all in his own backyard at Bentley Arena. He made his NCAA debut on Oct. 28 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 Nov. 1. 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.
Series History: This weekend will be the 62nd and 63rd all-time meetings between Bentley and Air Force. Air Force leads the series 36-18-7.
These teams played four times last season and split two games in Colorado. Air Force won the first game 2-1 and Bentley took the second game 5-4 behind two goals from Matt Gosiewski.
The teams played in Waltham on Feb. 18-19 and Air Force won the first game 4-1. The second game was a 4-4 tie and Bentley earned the extra point with the shootout win on a goal by Lucas Vanroboys.
Matt Gosiewski has seven goals in nine career games against Air Force.
Up Next: Bentley is on the road next weekend to take on Army West Point.