Bentley Falcons Official 2011-2012 Thread

[Snively65]

Any word on student buses to the games this weekend?

My guess is that yes for Friday night but probably not for Saturday night. But, hoping that the diehard Falcon Nest fans can make it out to Hart, which is only 45 minutes from Bentley. What a fine match up for the final rs weekend.

[Humanoid]

Re: Bentley Falcons Official 2011-2012 Thread

I've heard several rumors about this weekend going on through campus and on the blogosphere/twitterverse/facebook.

#1 - There's goingt o be some type of "different" senior day approach that other schools don't do. Not quite sure what that means, but the word is that the players and fans are really excited about it.

#2 - there are buses going from the campus to the rink. There's also talk that they'd increase the buses from shuttles to large school buses, since the response to the team has been so good this year. I'm not sure if that's the case.

#3 - There are fan cars going to the game on Saturday. There was a podcast up on Excalibur this week that interviewed the super fans that touched on something saying they wanted to "ruin" Holy Cross's Senior Day like HC did to Bentley two years ago and last year. Apparently a group of 40 or so bentley students are going to pile into cars and drive themselves out there. There's also an unconfirmed rumor that almost 120 students are planning on going on Friday.

[Snively65]

Re: Bentley Falcons Official 2011-2012 Thread

I've heard several rumors about this weekend going on through campus and on the blogosphere/twitterverse/facebook.

#1 - There's goingt o be some type of "different" senior day approach that other schools don't do. Not quite sure what that means, but the word is that the players and fans are really excited about it.

#2 - there are buses going from the campus to the rink. There's also talk that they'd increase the buses from shuttles to large school buses, since the response to the team has been so good this year. I'm not sure if that's the case.

#3 - There are fan cars going to the game on Saturday. There was a podcast up on Excalibur this week that interviewed the super fans that touched on something saying they wanted to "ruin" Holy Cross's Senior Day like HC did to Bentley two years ago and last year. Apparently a group of 40 or so bentley students are going to pile into cars and drive themselves out there. There's also an unconfirmed rumor that almost 120 students are planning on going on Friday.

This is good news, as the Bentley men's basketball team is hosting the first round of the NE-10 play offs against Assumption on campus at the same time tonight (how in the world did Bentley let that happen?). My guess is that the Falcon Nest fans will be attending both hockey games as they have adopted this team like Bentley fans have never done in the past. I had a good feeling about this Falcons team after watching them in Ann Arbor the first weekend of October and they have not disappointed.

[Eaglefan06]

Re: Bentley Falcons Official 2011-2012 Thread

How about that tie? Showed some real guts.

Especially killing that ridiculous 5 on 3 for two whole minutes with just over 3 minutes left in the third.

Would have liked the 2nd point, but Bentley controls their own destiny to get home ice with a (albeit slim) chance to win the AHA and that is all you can ask for.

[Snively65]

Re: Bentley Falcons Official 2011-2012 Thread

How about that tie? Showed some real guts.

Especially killing that ridiculous 5 on 3 for two whole minutes with just over 3 minutes left in the third.

Would have liked the 2nd point, but Bentley controls their own destiny to get home ice with a (albeit slim) chance to win the AHA and that is all you can ask for.

Great game tonight. Gensler's goal moves him into a tie for 11th in total points. Komm did his job, especially on the two full minutes of 5-3 late in the third; both of those penalties were bad calls at that point in the game, as no way was Marginsky boarding and then Gensler roughing as he watched the puck stop short of the Crusaders net on the delayed penalty call. The JAR was rocking with almost 800 in attendance, but lucky that fans throwing fish onto the ice after both Bentley goals did not result in bench minors against the home team (only UNH gets to throw one fish onto the ice after their first goal).

[Humanoid]

Re: Bentley Falcons Official 2011-2012 Thread

Great game tonight. Gensler's goal moves him into a tie for 11th in total points. Komm did his job, especially on the two full minutes of 5-3 late in the third; both of those penalties were bad calls at that point in the game, as no way was Marginsky boarding and then Gensler roughing as he watched the puck stop short of the Crusaders net on the delayed penalty call. The JAR was rocking with almost 800 in attendance, but lucky that fans throwing fish onto the ice after both Bentley goals did not result in bench minors against the home team (only UNH gets to throw one fish onto the ice after their first goal).

God as my witness I have never seen the JAR like that. Raw emotion. It was awesome. Welcome to being a real D1 program, Bentley.

[Eaglefan06]

Re: Bentley Falcons Official 2011-2012 Thread

Worst case scenario happened tonight? Dammit. That sucksl

[Snively65]

Re: Bentley Falcons Official 2011-2012 Thread

Tough loss and nightmare of a second period for the Falcons at Hart Rink on Saturday night. Despite being down 6-2 midway through the third, when both Dougherty and Ginn got run in their own nets, Bentley closed the gap to 6-4 and had a great chance to make it 6-5 on a penalty shot by Gensler with 34 seconds remaining. But, it was not meant to be, as Holy Cross leapfrogged Bentley to 5th place in the final regular season standings. If Bentley had won, they would have come in 3rd; if they had tied, they would have come in 5th. So, as the 6th seed, the Falcons will host 11th seed Sacred Heart at the JAR for best two of three on the weekend of March 2nd, to see who moves on to the quarters. If the Falcons prevail over Sacred Heart, they will travel to either RIT or Mercyhurst for two out of three the following weekend, depending on how 5th seed Holy Cross does in their series hosting 12th seed Army, which came in last by losing their tiebreaker with Sacred Heart. Pretty amazing final weekend of the regular season in Atlantic Hockey. Gensler got a goal and finished with 41 points on the season (18 G, 23 A) to lead the AHA, and is tied at the moment for 11th overall in Div 1. Will the AHA post-season be as exciting as the regular season?

[mwade]

Re: Bentley Falcons Official 2011-2012 Thread

Sorry about the loss. Forgot to post this last night - images from the senior game: http://www.uscho.com/photos/2012/02/...ss-at-bentley/

[Snively65]

Re: Bentley Falcons Official 2011-2012 Thread

Sorry about the loss. Forgot to post this last night - images from the senior game: http://www.uscho.com/photos/2012/02/...ss-at-bentley/

Very fine slide show, Melissa. Many thanks!

[Humanoid]

Re: Bentley Falcons Official 2011-2012 Thread

The good news about getting the 6 seed is that this could be addition by subtraction in this type of scenario.

If Bentley had won the game, they would've been the 2 seed and would've faced, in all likelihood, Robert Morris (who will host AIC) or Canisius (who I think will beat UConn). While it would've been at home, they've had problems in the past with both those teams.

If Bentley had tied, they probably would've been the 5 seed and played Army on JAR ice. In actuality, the JAR favors Army because it's smaller and the Knights are less athletic than the Falcons. They used the JAR to their advantage to manhandle Bentley when they met a couple of weeks back. That is actually a bad trap matchup for the Falcons.

Because Bentley lost, they will host Sacred Heart, a team that took the to the limit, but at the same time, has not done particularly well. All of SH's wins this year, save for the one against Mercyhurst which still has no rational explanation, were against either Army or AIC. They tied Bentlye, but the Falcons are a much tougher team, and the Pioneers are not a very good team at all this year. That gives Bentley an easier first round opponent than Army, who will head to Holy Cross instead.

In addition, Bentley can at no worse face a potential second round opponent in Mercyhurst or RIT. And they outskated both of those teams at times this year, so the matchup is more equal than bad. While it would be on the road, they fared exceptionally well on better sheets of ice than the JAR this year, going 8-8-3 on the road. Of those eight road losses, five were against non conference opponents, including the two against Michigan, the UMass/Quinnipiac trip, and the disaster loss to Yale. Against AHA teams, on the road, Bentley is 8-3-3, including taking three points at Canisius and at Air Force, along with a scoreless tie against Mercyhurst.

My only fear is that the HOly Cross game provides a semi-hangover. The Falcons did not look particularly good, and I'd love to see them get another shot at the Crusaders at some point. They were merely bullied, and for the second time, Komm did not finish a game against HC. The problem with running Dougherty is that Blake was slightly injured on the play, meaning the Falcons have but one goalie who is entering the playoffs at 100%, and Komm has had some wicked minutes on his body this year. I expect more out of Holy Cross, especially since their program has some fine people surrounding it. It's unfortunate that after such a great game on Friday, they stooped to some bad levels on Saturday and sucked Bentley out of what could've been a good, entertaining game.

[Snively65]

Re: Bentley Falcons Official 2011-2012 Thread

Good analysis, Humanoid. Still seems ironic to me that the JAR is not an advantage for the home team, especially this season with a much louder and more dedicated fan base. But, the numbers are what they are, and I am disappointed that the Falcons will not be playing the quarters at home where I could attend.

[Snively65]

Re: Bentley Falcons Official 2011-2012 Thread

Have not heard anything about buses to the JAR this weekend.

[Humanoid]

Re: Bentley Falcons Official 2011-2012 Thread

I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous for tonight. This Sacred Heart team has brought a lot of physical and tough energy, and they've rammed playing at the JAR right down Bentley's throats. They've actualy benefitted from a rough place to pay, as it's negated Bentley's athletic advantage.
Tongiht should eb wild. There have been issues with the fans getting a little bit unruly, so hopefully that stays nice tonight, and they remain peaceful. Also, I think last night's crowd was flat, which didn't help. They were mostly students there for the housing lottery. Kind of flat and never really got up for the whole game.

The audio of tonight's B2/American One video will be simulcast on Excalibur Sports. I've been disappointed by the lack of Media coverage for the last two games, so it's nice that something will happen tonight. The audio will be available on the website www.excsports.com - it might also be able to be reached by excalibursportspage.com

the AHA is waiting with baited breath for what's going to happen in this one.

[Snively65]

Re: Bentley Falcons Official 2011-2012 Thread

Hard to believe that going into last weekend, Bentley had a shot at the AHA regular season title. But, now they are fighting to move on to the quarters. Lot of parity in AHA this season, and superb goal tending from almost top to bottom. AIC also pushing Bobby Mo for a chance to move on. Meanwhile, Brett Gensler is now tied with Brian Flynn for 7th in points (45), with only Drew Shore (47), Travis Oleksuk (48), Mark Zengerle (49), Austin Smith (52), Jack Connolly (55), and Spencer Abbott (56) ahead of them, and none of them playing tonight. Bentley needs to light up the lamp early and get their fans into the game. No classes before 9:55 am on Mondays.