Falcons hold off Bentley for 3-1 win

WALTHAM, Mass. – Air Force scored three goals in the first 13 minutes and then held off Bentley for a 3-1 win at the Bentley Ice Arena in Waltham, Mass.

Air Force (9-11-1, 6-4-1 AHA) had only scored one goal in its last three games, but scored three in the first 13 minutes at Bentley. Senior Nate Horn scored his first goal of the season just 4:17 into the game on a flurry in front. Sam Brennan shot a puck off the back wall and Holt Oliphant pushed it in front. Horn gave the Falcons the early lead in his 100^th career game.

After Nick Remissong drew a penalty on Bentley, the Falcons capitalized. Luke Rowe started the play in his own end and Parker Brown made a rink-wide pass to Chris Hedden on the left wing. Hedden gave the Falcons a 2-0 lead with his fifth goal of the season, second on the power play, at 10:37. Air Force took a 3-0 lead on the rush. Rowe and Austin Schwartz won a puck battle on the wall and Schwartz sent the puck up ice to Andrew DeCarlo. DeCarlo skated in on a 2-on-1 with Jacob Marti and snapped a wrister from the right dot for his first of the season at 13:07.

After a scoreless second period, Bentley (10-11-0, 6-7-0 AHA) got on the board as Ethan Leyh scored just 4:34 into the third period. The Falcons held the 3-1 lead until late in the third. After a whistle with 61 seconds left in the third, the officials reviewed a hit by Luke Rowe and assessed a major penalty for contact to the head. The penalty happened with 4:00 left in the game, so 4:00 was put back on the clock and Bentley had a major power play for the remainder of the game, down two goals. Bentley pulled its goalie for the final 95 seconds for a two-man advantage. On that penalty kill, the Falcons blocked five shots and Guy Blessing made three saves.

Bentley outshot Air Force, 24-21, in the game. Air Force was 1-for-3 on the power play while Bentley was 0-for-2. Blessing made 23 saves for the Falcons. Nicholas Grabko started for Bentley and allowed three goals on nine shots in 13 minutes. He was replaced by Connor Hasley after Air Force's third goal and Hasley stopped all 12 shots he faced over the final 47 minutes.

"We made those first three goals hold up and it was a good team win," head coach Frank Serratore said. "It had been a long time since we won a period so getting that three-goal lead was huge. We played a very good and smart game. We didn't get into penalty trouble until the end. We dodged a massive bullet there at the end. We took a punch to the gut, but give the guys credit for staying connected and killing that penalty. I thought we were the better team and the hockey gods rewarded us."

Air Force and Bentley conclude the two-game league series on Saturday, Jan. 6, at 5:30 pm ET in Waltham, Mass.

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Team Stats

Luke Rowe

Chris Hedden

Nate Horn

Andrew DeCarlo

Players Mentioned

Guy Blessing

Sam Brennan

Parker Brown

Andrew DeCarlo

Chris Hedden

Nate Horn

Jacob Marti

Holt Oliphant

Nick Remissong

Luke Rowe

Austin Schwartz

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