WATERTOWN, Mass. - Freshman goalie Garrett Bartus made 27 saves
as ninth-seeded UConn upset eighth-seeded Bentley University 2-1 in
the first round of the Atlantic Hockey Tournament on Saturday night
at Ryan Skating Arena.
With the win, UConn (7-25-3) advances to the quarterfinals and
will take on top-seeded RIT next weekend in Rochester, N.Y. For
Bentley, the season comes to a close at 12-19-4.
Bartus was outstanding all night for the Huskies, allowing only
a first period goal to freshman Dan Koudys'
(Grimsby, Ontario/Burlington Cougars).
With Bentley trailing 2-1 with 1:24 remaining in the game,
sophomore goalie Kyle Rank
(Islip, N.Y./Markham Waxers) was pulled for the
extra-attacker. The Falcons got off two shots, both of which were
blocked, before a stoppage in play led to Bentley calling a timeout
with 13 seconds remaining. The ensuing face-off was in Bentley's
offensive zone, but UConn's Sean Ambrosie won the draw, allowing
for the puck to be cleared and for the remaining time to tick
away.
All three goals were scored in the first period, and UConn
staked itself to a 1-0 lead just 3:05 in on a goal by junior Andrew
Olson.
The Falcons though knotted the game up at 14:23 on Koudys' sixth
goal of the season. Sophomore Aaron
Stonacek (Basehor, Kan./Fairbanks Ice Dogs) got the
play going by feeding a pass to defenseman Trent
Bonnett (Butler, Pa./Mahoning Valley Phantoms) in the
neutral zone. Bonnett started a rush up ice and fed a pass to
Koudys on the right wing, who fired a wrist shot past Bartus.
Just 33 seconds later though, junior Justin Hernandez gave the
Huskies a 2-1 lead. After Rank stopped a shot by Olson, Hernandez
jammed the rebound past Rank in the midst of a scrum in front of
the net.
That was all Bartus needed, as he stopped 14 shots in the second
period and six in the third period.
At Watertown, Mass.
Atlantic Hockey Tournament First Round
UConn (7-25-3) 2 0 0 - 2
Bentley (12-19-4) 1 0 0 -- 1
1st Period: UC, Andrew Olson (Justin Hernandez) 3:05;
B, Dan Koudys (Trent Bonnett, Aaron Stonacek) 14:23;
UC, Hernandez (Olson, Tom Janosz) 14:56
2nd Period: No Scoring
3rd Period: No Scoring
Saves: B, Kyle Rank 18; UC, 27
Shots: B, 28; UC, 20
Penalties: B, 8-19; UC, 7-14
Power Plays: B, 0-6; UC, 0-7
