WALTHAM, Mass. – Bentley hosts Niagara on Friday and Saturday to close out the first half of its season. Friday's game gets underway at 7:00 pm and Saturday is a 4:00 pm start.
The Falcons come in at 7-0-1 in Atlantic Hockey for 22 points, which has them just one point behind Holy Cross for first place. They have a game in-hand and are the only team in the league yet to lose a conference game.
In their most recent AHA game, they went on the road and defeated Army West Point on November 25. Tied 1-1 late in the third period,
Owen Goodbrand and
Ryan Mansfield scored to give the Falcons the victory.
That game preceded a 3-0 defeat to UNH at home on November 29.
As the first half of the season approaches its conclusion, senior team captain
Stephen Castagna leads Bentley in both assists (8) and points (13). Goodbrand leads the team with six goals. Castagna is second on the squad with five goals and
Michael Mesic and
Dylan Cook each have four.
The Falcons have two goalies in the top-12 nationally in save percentage.
Nicholas Bevilacqua is T-6
th at .936 and
Lukas Swedin is T-12
th at .930.
The duo are also in the top-11 nationally in goals against average, with Bevilacqua 5
th (1.59) and Swedin 11
th (1.82).
Niagara comes into the weekend at 6-8 overall and 3-4 in Atlantic Hockey. Last weekend they were swept at home by Rensselaer but they have won three straight in Atlantic Hockey. They beat RIT at home 2-1 (ot) on Nov. 18 and swept Army at home by scores of 6-4 and 4-1 on Nov. 14-15.
Friday's game will be the 33
rd all-time meeting between these teams with Niagara leading the series 17-12-3. The Purple Eagles swept two games at home last season by scores of 3-2 (ot) and 4-2. The last time they played in Waltham was Nov. 10-11, 2023 and Bentley swept with wins of 6-2 and 2-1
.
Following this weekend, it will be 26 days before Bentley plays again on January 2 at home against Holy Cross.
