Air Force travels to Bentley in AHA first round, March 9

This Week: Air Force (3-9-1, 3-9-1 AHA) travels to Waltham, Mass., to face Bentley (4-11-0, 4-11-0 AHA) in the first round of the Atlantic Hockey playoffs, Tuesday, March 9 at 5 pm ET. The first round is single elimination. The winner advances to AHA quarterfinals, March 12-14. Neither team has played since Feb. 20 (16 days).

Playoff Picture: AIC won the AHA East Pod while Robert Morris won the West Pod. AIC, Robert Morris, Army, Canisius and RIT all received first round byes.
In addition to Bentley hosting Air Force, Sacred Heart will host Holy Cross, March 7, and Mercyhurst will host Niagara, March 8.

Live Stream: Every home game and every Atlantic Hockey game will be streamed on FloHockey.tv for a subscription fee. Links to all broadcasts are on the hockey schedule at www.GoAirForceFalcons.com.
Every game will be broadcast on Xtra Sports 1300 in Colorado Springs and online at www.GoAirForceFalcons.com. The game is also available on TuneIn. Jay Ritchie will call the play-by-play while Dave Toller will provide color analysis. Pregame show begins 30 minutes before faceoff.

Scouting Bentley: Bentley is 4-11-0 overall and 4-11-0 for eighth place in the AHA. Bentley has not played since a 2-1 overtime loss at Army, Feb. 20. Bentley's games against Holy Cross and Sacred Heart last week were canceled due to COVID protocols. After a win over Air Force, Jan. 31, Bentley is 1-6. Senior forward Luke Santerno leads the team with 16 points in 15 games (5-11-16).

Series vs. Bentley: The teams have played 56 times and Air Force holds a 34-16-6 advantage in the series that began in 1998. As Atlantic Hockey foes, the teams played 47 times since the beginning of the 2006-07 season (14 years) and Air Force holds a 28-14-5 lead. In games played in Waltham, Mass, Air Force is 14-9-1 against Bentley. Earlier this season, Air Force and Bentley split a series in Waltham, Mass., with Bentley winning the first game (6-3) and AF winning game two (4-3 OT). Air Force is 1-3 at the Bentley Ice Arena.
The teams have played five times in the playoffs and AF is 5-0 against Bentley. Air Force swept a quarterfinal series in 2008 and 2017 at the Academy and defeated Bentley in the 2009 semifinals in Rochester. Air Force won the AHA Tournament every season it played Bentley. The teams have never met in the playoffs in Waltham, Mass.

Season Notes
* Air Force's three-game winning streak is the longest since the Falcons had a four-gamer in November, 2019.
* Season high five goals in the win over Canisius, Feb. 20 (5-1)
* The 79 shots in the Canisius series are the most in a series this season. The 40 shots in game one are the second most this season (42 vs. Niagara, Jan. 4)
* After scoring eight goals in the first six games, the Falcons have scored 24 in the last seven games.
* Canisius entered the game ranked sixth in the nation averaging 34.0 shots per game and the Falcons held them to 22 per game.
* AF has scored five power-play goals in the last five games. The Falcons scored three against Canisius, who entered the series ranked sixth in the nation in penalty kill.
* Willie Reim scored back-to-back game winners in overtime. He has three career game-winners.
* Reim leads the team with five goals and 11 points in 13 games. Reim has scored in five straight games (3-5-8), the longest streak of his career and the longest by any Falcon this season.

Air Force travels to Bentley in AHA first round, March 9

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Players Mentioned

Willie Reim

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