CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- Bentley has earned its share of victories against marquee programs over its tenure in Atlantic Hockey, but adding to the list never gets old for 17th-year head coach Ryan Soderquist.
The Falcons defeated a Hockey East team for the ninth time in 11 seasons, opening up a three-goal lead Friday at Conte Forum before holding off a late Boston College rally to take a 4-2 win back to Waltham. BC becomes the seventh different Hockey East club that the Falcons have taken down since 2008-09.
Bentley is undoubtedly on the rise. The Falcons ditched the public John A. Ryan Arena in Watertown back in February for a beautiful on-campus arena of their own before welcoming in freshman center Jakov Novak as the program’s first-ever NHL draft pick this fall.
You need the wins to back it all up, too. And the Falcons are getting them.
“As a program, we’ve been fighting for respect for a long time,” said Soderquist, whose team rounds out its road non-conference slate Dec. 30 at New Hampshire. “We play with a chip on our shoulder and want the respect, but we know we can’t just ask for it. We have to go earn it. That’s why I’m very proud of the win tonight.”
The game didn’t start without a bit of a “deer in headlights” look for the Falcons, the coach said, as they got used to playing in the Eagles’ barn for the first time ever. They were held to just three shots through the opening period, but turned the tides with a two-goal second.
Then, sophomore defenseman Matt Lombardozzi stepped into his first collegiate goal less than three minutes into the final frame. The Leominster, Mass., native, picked up a loose puck that was swept around the boards before winding up and beating BC junior Joseph Woll.
“I’m a Massachusetts guy, so I always went to the BU-BC rivalry growing up,” said Lombardozzi, who attended The Rivers School before playing two junior seasons in the Central Canada Hockey League. “I know that we, as a team, can skate with these guys, so to go out there and be able to prove it to everybody else felt really good.
As for the goal that turned out to be the game-winner after the Eagles came back for two in the third period, “I fanned on the puck, it went into the corner, and it somehow got back to me on the half wall. I just threaded it to the net; the goalie has that nine times out of ten, but puck luck was on our side tonight.”
First collegiate goals only come once, so making that memory in a Hockey East building was special for Lombardozzi. But Soderquist couldn’t quite believe it was the 6-foot-1, 200-pounder’s first-ever tally because he’s been a regular contributor to what the Falcons have done over the last year-plus.
“He's a shutdown defenseman,” Soderquist said of Lombardozzi. “He's great on the penalty kill, a good retriever of pucks and moves the puck from A to B. His job isn't always to score goals, but his progression in the last two weeks, actually, has been really, really good. He started to get his game going against West Point and had another great game tonight.”
It’s no surprise that the change from first to second period was a simple one for the Falcons. Retrieving pucks was a key. And it led to goals, including Lombardozzi’s.
Defenseman Tanner Jago’s shot from the point tipped off the stick of BC freshman Oliver Wahlstrom for Bentley’s first goal at the 6:57 mark of the second period. Four different Falcon scorers as freshman Will Garin gave Bentley its two-goal lead with one minute left in the second, and junior Jake Kauppila hit the empty net to clinch the win with 1:07 to go.
Perhaps puck luck was a contributing factor to the team’s success in topping another perennial powerhouse program, but the Falcons ultimately got everything they deserved.
“It’s nice to get a Hockey East win,” said Jago, the Falcons’ captain from Brandon, Manitoba. “We’ve done it every year I’ve been here, so it’s nice to keep that tradition going.”
No less than five freshmen have dressed over the last couple of weeks, so there is still some growing up to do for a team that is just 4-7-1 overall and 3-5-1 in Atlantic Hockey play after splitting with Army West Point last weekend.
The best lessons, though, are taught in wins. Soderquist knows this victory ― like all the others against Northeastern, Boston University, UNH, UMass Lowell, UMass, and Maine over his coaching tenure ― offered some teaching moments, too.
“We have to have a belief in who we are, and we’re still learning that,” Soderquist said. “The season is young, so as long as we continue to gain momentum, we like our chances for this team when we get to the end of the year.”
And now there’s a renewed confidence that the Falcons can beat anyone in the country.
It’s becoming a proven fact, year after year.
