WALTHAM, Mass. - The Bentley University hockey team is heading west this weekend to the Rocky Mountains to renew acquaintances with Atlantic Hockey favorites Air Force for a two-game series beginning Friday night. Both contests will begin at 9:05 eastern time from Cadet Ice Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Bentley is currently 2-1 in Atlantic Hockey play and is tied for fourth place with RIT. Air Force, the three-time defending Atlantic Hockey champions, is in its usual spot atop the standings with a 3-1 record in conference play. Bentley will be looking for a small measure of revenge this weekend as Air Force has eliminated Bentley from the postseason two years in a row.
These two teams have become familiar foes over the past two seasons. They have played 11 times, eight times in the regular season and three times in the playoffs. Air Force swept Bentley in the quarterfinals of the 2008 tournament, outscoring Bentley 12-3. Air Force then beat Bentley 3-0 in the semifinals of last year's tournament in Rochester, N.Y. Air Force is 8-2-1 against Bentley over those 11 games.
Air Force has also gotten the better of the all-time series, leading 16-6-2 and 8-2-1 in Colorado Springs. Bentley has not beaten Air Force on the road since a 6-5 win on Oct. 21, 2006.
Bentley, who has won two of three after splitting with Mercyhurst at home last weekend, has been paced offensively by senior Marc Menzione (Darien, Ill./Mahoning Valley Phantoms) and freshman Dan Koudys (Grimsby, Ontario/Burlington Cougars). They are tied for the team lead in points, with Menzione at 4-3-7 and Koudys at 3-4-7. Koudys is tied for the league lead in points among rookies with Adam Pleskach of AIC, and among rookies nationally, he's tied for fifth. He also has the winning goal in both Bentley wins.
As was the case last season, head coach Ryan Soderquist has continued to rotate his goalies. Junior Joe Calvi (New Lenox, Ill./New England Jr. Huskies) has started three games and is 2-1 with a 2.69 goals against average. Sophomore Kyle Rank (Islip, N.Y./Markham Waxers) is winless in two starts, but played well against Quinnipiac on Oct. 17, making 26 saves.
Bentley has also uncharacteristically taken a lot of penalties thus far. They are averaging 17.8 penalty minutes per game, which is 13th in Division I. That could be a problem against Air Force, who is scoring at 26.3 percent clip on the power play, good for fifth in Division I.
Air Force comes into the weekend having won three of four after sweeping RIT at home two weekends ago, then splitting at Canisius last weekend. All-American forward Jacques Lamoureux has picked up where he left off last season, leading the team in scoring at 4-4-8. Air Force has also received contributions offensively from a pair of freshman, John Kruse and Kyle De Laurell, who each have six points. Senior goalie Andrew Volkening remains a horse. He has started all eight games so far, but has struggled some, posting a 3-5 record with a 3.75 goals against average.
Both games can be seen live on the B2 Network.
Live stats and live audio will also be available.
