Written by: Robbie LaBrie

The Falcons took the ice on Friday night looking to carry over some momentum from the previous week’s big win against RIT, but they left Springfield, Massachusetts wondering what happened after dropping two games by just one goal apiece.

Entering the last month of the season, it seemed as if Bentley would be able to cruise through February without much difficulty. The only remaining games on the schedule pitted the Falcons against the bottom three teams in Atlantic Hockey play this year.

As is often the case, parity is the name of the game in the Atlantic Hockey conference, and that was certainly proven last weekend when American International, a team with only three wins in conference play before the weekend, swept the Falcons.

Bentley rolled into Friday night’s game looking to grab their second win in a row for the first time in the new year, but American International sophomore Michael Penny had something different in mind.

The Falcons have seen some quality goaltending recently from sophomore Kyle Rank, but junior Joe Calvi got the start in this one.

He and the rest of the defense, including Rank (who took over later in the game) struggled against the AIC offense, giving up six goals, including three to Penny in his hat trick effort.

AIC poured it on early, picking up four first period goals, leading 4-1 at the first intermission. Just four minutes in, Penny already had his first two goals.

AIC added one more before sophomore Herbie Kent got the Falcons on the board, but the Yellow Jackets weren’t done yet. They grabbed another goal with just 24 seconds left in the period.

It was more of the same early in the second period as AIC tacked on two more early goals, including Penny’s third of the game, to put the Falcons down 6-1, a seemingly insurmountable deficit.

The score was 6-2 at the end of the second period, but the Falcons showed their grit and determination. Third period goals from freshman Jordy Trottier, Kent and senior Marc Menzione brought the Falcons within one with two and a half minutes left to play.

But despite their best efforts, the team’s comeback fell short. The Falcons just couldn’t find another goal and AIC came away with the 6-5 win. While AIC won the game, it still seemed as though Bentley would be heading into the Saturday game with force. Sadly, the Falcons were only headed for another heartbreaker in Springfield.

Coach Ryan Soderquist stuck with Calvi for this game, showing faith in his junior goalie, who seemed to be much more settled in for this one, making 30 saves in an overtime thriller.

Bentley freshman Joe Campanelli kicked off the scoring with the help of Dan Koudys and Erik Peterson who got the assists, netting the only goal of the first period to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead at the first intermission.

AIC came out strong in the second, however, scoring two goals within the first 13 minutes of the period. But Koudys was there to tie the game up later in the period on a short-handed goal to make it 2-2, a score that would stick all the way to overtime.

After a scoreless third period, the teams entered the bonus time to try to pick up the crucial two points in the Atlantic Hockey standings.

Defense was the name of the game, but with just 1:09 minutes left, AIC defenseman Mike Little scored to give the Yellow Jackets the win and the sweep.

With these two losses, the Falcons slide below Army in the Atlantic Hockey conference. Bentley’s 9-11-2 record means they have 20 points in the conference and sit in seventh out of ten teams.

Every team makes the tournament, so the Falcons will get their chance at Atlantic Hockey glory regardless of how they finish, but if they can make the top six, they will get a bye in the first round and automatically make the quarterfinals.

To do this, they will have to at least pass Army, which has a 9-9-4 conference record and 22 points. RIT tops the standings at 16-5-1 and 33 points.

Fortunately for Bentley, their schedule seems soft on paper, although the AIC games seemed like they would certainly be winnable. The Falcons play the eighth-place team in Atlantic Hockey, Holy Cross, this weekend with a game in Waltham on Friday and one in Worcester on Saturday.

The Falcons will then play a weekend series against UConn, a team which is last in the conference and who they’ve beaten twice this year, before closing out the season with an identical series against Holy Cross.

Bentley certainly isn’t where they would’ve liked to be after the tough losses this past weekend, but with two healthy goalies and some key players playing well, look for the Falcons to hopefully pick up some wins against some weaker competition.