WALTHAM, Mass. – Army West Point took the series opener from Bentley University 5-3 on Friday night at Bentley Arena. Freshman defenseman Pat Lawn (Waltham, Mass.), Matt Thomson (Reading, Mass.) and senior Joe Winkelmann (St. Louis, Mo.) were the goal scorers for the Falcons.

Army led 2-0 on a pair of goals by senior left wing Brett Abdelnour, before Lawn, a Waltham native, lit the lamp at Bentley Arena for the first time in his career in the second period.

Lucas Vanroboys (Thamesville, Ontario) won the puck along the boards and fed it to Cole Kodsi (Boca Raton, Fla.). Kodsi drove in on net and had a shot saved by Army goalie Justin Evenson, but Lawn was there to pounce on the rebound and score from the slot to make it 2-1 at 13:07 of the 2^nd period. The goal was his 2^nd of the season.

Just 41 seconds after Lawn's goal however, Army went back ahead by two on a goal by Max Itagaki with a shot from the bottom of the right faceoff circle.

The Black Knights made it 4-1 at 3:42 of the 3^rd period when right wing Noah Wilson tipped in a shot in front of the goal, with the shot coming from defenseman Anthony Firriolo.

Bentley though fought back in the 3^rd period with goals by Thomson and Winkelmann.

Thomson's goal came from just above the left faceoff circle and beat Evenson top shelf at 9:07. Winkelmann had the primary assist and defenseman Nick Bochen (North Vancouver, B.C.) the secondary assist to make it a 4-2 game.

Still trailing 4-2 late in the game Bentley pulled goalie Connor Hasley (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) for an extra attacker for the final two-plus minutes. And with 1:40 remaining in the game, Bentley pulled closer on a goal by Winkelmann after he tipped in a shot from defenseman Ryan Nause (Riverview, New Brunswick).

Hasley briefly went back out for the ensuing faceoff then headed back to the bench with 1:00 remaining. But Army iced the game with a goal from the neutral zone by right wing Joey Baez with 30 seconds left to finish the scoring at 5-3.

Hasley ended the night with 25 saves and Evenson 28 saves.

These same two teams will meet again on Saturday at 4:05 PM in the final game of the regular season.