# 2021–22 Bentley Falcons men's ice hockey season

The 2021–22 Bentley Falcons men's ice hockey season was the 45th season of play for the program, the 23rd at the Division I level, and the 19th season in the Atlantic Hockey conference. The Falcons represented Bentley University and were coached by Ryan Soderquist, in his 20th season.

## Season

Bentley began its season in very good standing, defeating both Ohio State and Boston College in the first few weeks of the season. The Falcons cooled off a bit afterwards but still managed to win a few games as they tried to start out their goaltending situation. They began the year with Nicholas Grabko in goal but he never seemed to be able to put a string of good performances together. Unfortunately, the two other options (Evan Debrouwer and Jason Grande) didn't play any better.
In mid-November, Debrouwer got his second shot as the starter and made the most of his opportunity, winning five games in a row to put Bentley near the top of the Atlantic Hockey standings by the mid point of the season.
After the winter break, Bentley had to reschedule several games around an uptick in COVID-19 positive tests that were affecting all of college hockey but seemed to get out of the trouble by the end of January. That was only the beginning of their trouble, however, as goaltending issues sent the Falcons careening towards the bottom of the conference. Debrouwer was never able to regain the form he had shown in November and December and allowed fewer than 3 goals in just two of his next nine games. Neither Grabko nor Grande could provide better support for the team in goal and Bentley ended up stumbling towards the finish. Even when their goaltenders were able to limit teams to just a few goals, the Falcons' offense went missing and Bentley finished the regular season with and 11-game winless streak.
They opened the postseason on the road against Niagara and completely reversed course, winning two matches to both end their streak and move onto the conference quarterfinals. The team's low position, however, sent them into a match with top-seeded American International and the Falcons were routed in back-to-back games.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Christian Felton | Defenseman | United States | Transferred to Merrimack |
| Will Garin | Forward | United States | Left program (retired) |
| Charlie Marchand | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (retired) |
| Jakov Novak | Forward | Canada | Transferred to Northeastern |
| Zach Pellegrino | Forward | United States | Transferred to Albertus Magnus |
| Luke Santerno | Forward | Canada | Graduate transfer to Clarkson |
| Devon Tongue | Forward | United States | Transferred to Trinity |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Cooper Connell | Forward | Canada | 20 | West Vancouver, BC |
| Evan Debrouwer | Goaltender | Canada | 24 | Blenheim, ON; transfer from Arizona State |
| Tucker Hodgson | Defenseman | United States | 20 | Grand Forks, ND |
| Phil Knies | Forward | Slovakia | 23 | Bratislava, SVK; graduate transfer from Miami |
| Eric Linell | Forward | United States | 23 | Great Neck, NY; transfer from Connecticut |
| Tanner Main | Defenseman | Canada | 21 | Welland, ON |
| Danny Pearson | Forward | Canada | 21 | West Vancouver, BC |
| Collin Rutherford | Forward | United States | 23 | Tonawanda, NY; graduate transfer from Dartmouth |
| Kohei Sato | Forward | Japan | 24 | Nishitōkyō, JPN; graduate transfer from New Hampshire |
| Harrison Scott | Forward | United States | 21 | San Jose, CA |

## Roster

As of August 23, 2021.

## Standings

2021–22 Atlantic Hockey Standingsvte :
| | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record |
| | GP | W | L | T | OW | OL | SW | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #18 American International †* | 26 | 17 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 54 | 97 | 61 | 38 | 22 | 13 | 3 | 134 | 95 |
| Canisius | 26 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 43 | 76 | 67 | 35 | 16 | 16 | 3 | 99 | 97 |
| Army | 26 | 12 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 42 | 75 | 68 | 35 | 14 | 17 | 4 | 98 | 100 |
| RIT | 26 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 41 | 69 | 82 | 38 | 18 | 16 | 4 | 92 | 115 |
| Sacred Heart | 26 | 11 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 40 | 72 | 70 | 37 | 15 | 18 | 4 | 95 | 100 |
| Air Force | 26 | 11 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 37 | 76 | 80 | 36 | 16 | 17 | 3 | 99 | 127 |
| Mercyhurst | 26 | 10 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 36 | 75 | 79 | 39 | 16 | 19 | 4 | 114 | 129 |
| Niagara | 26 | 10 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 34 | 70 | 79 | 36 | 11 | 22 | 3 | 82 | 122 |
| Bentley | 26 | 10 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 34 | 70 | 78 | 36 | 14 | 20 | 2 | 94 | 117 |
| Holy Cross | 26 | 10 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 56 | 72 | 37 | 12 | 23 | 2 | 77 | 108 |
| Championship: March 19, 2022 † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion (Riley Trophy) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll |||||||||||||||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date | Time | Opponent$^#$ | Site | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| Regular Season ||||||||||
| October 2 | 7:00 PM | at Northeastern* | Matthews Arena • Boston, Massachusetts | Grabko | L 0–4 | 4,208 | 0–1–0 |
| October 8 | 7:05 PM | Ohio State* | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | Grabko | W 2–1 | 1,585 | 1–1–0 |
| October 9 | 6:05 PM | Ohio State* | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | DeBrouwer | L 1–7 | 1,359 | 1–2–0 |
| October 16 | 7:05 PM | #6 Boston College* | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | Grabko | W 6–2 | 2,150 | 2–2–0 |
| October 21 | 7:05 PM | at Holy Cross | Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts | Grabko | W 4–2 | 537 | 3–2–0 (1–0–0) |
| October 22 | 4:05 PM | Holy Cross | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | Grabko | L 2–3 | 1,761 | 3–3–0 (1–1–0) |
| October 30 | 8:00 PM | at #15 Harvard* | Bright-Landry Hockey Center • Boston, Massachusetts | Grabko | L 3–7 | 1,357 | 3–4–0 |
| November 5 | 7:05 PM | Canisius | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | Grande | W 2–1 | 1,262 | 4–4–0 (2–1–0) |
| November 6 | 4:05 PM | Canisius | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | Grande | L 3–6 | 1,253 | 4–5–0 (2–2–0) |
| November 12 | 9:05 PM | at Air Force | Cadet Ice Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | Grabko | L 1–2 | 1,968 | 4–6–0 (2–3–0) |
| November 13 | 7:05 PM | at Air Force | Cadet Ice Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | Grande | W 5–4 | 1,895 | 5–6–0 (3–3–0) |
| November 19 | 1:05 PM | at American International | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts | Grabko | L 0–5 | 293 | 5–7–0 (3–4–0) |
| November 20 | 1:05 PM | at American International | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts | DeBrouwer | W 2–1 | 192 | 6–7–0 (4–4–0) |
| November 26 | 4:05 PM | Army | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | DeBrouwer | W 3–1 | 1,275 | 7–7–0 (5–4–0) |
| November 27 | 4:05 PM | Army | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | DeBrouwer | W 5–0 | 1,275 | 8–7–0 (6–4–0) |
| December 3 | 7:05 PM | Mercyhurst | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | DeBrouwer | W 4–3 | 1,131 | 9–7–0 (7–4–0) |
| December 4 | 5:05 PM | Mercyhurst | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | DeBrouwer | W 3–1 | 965 | 10–7–0 (8–4–0) |
| January 8 | 7:00 PM | at Merrimack* | J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts | Grabko | L 1–4 | 1,093 | 10–8–0 |
| January 14 | 7:05 PM | Sacred Heart | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | Kirk | L 1–5 | 689 | 10–9–0 (8–5–0) |
| January 15 | 5:05 PM | Sacred Heart | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | DeBrouwer | W 4–3 | 874 | 11–9–0 (9–5–0) |
| January 21 | 7:00 PM | at Canisius | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York | DeBrouwer | W 7–4 | 582 | 12–9–0 (10–5–0) |
| January 22 | 7:00 PM | at Canisius | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York | Grabko | L 1–2 $^{OT}$ | 614 | 12–10–0 (10–6–0) |
| January 28 | 7:05 PM | RIT | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | DeBrouwer | L 1–2 | 897 | 12–11–0 (10–7–0) |
| January 30 | 2:05 PM | RIT | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | DeBrouwer | T 3–3 $^{SOL}$ | 780 | 12–11–1 (10–7–1) |
| February 4 | 7:00 PM | at Niagara | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York | DeBrouwer | L 5–6 | 611 | 12–12–1 (10–8–1) |
| February 5 | 5:05 PM | at Niagara | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York | Grabko | L 2–3 | 585 | 12–13–1 (10–9–1) |
| February 10 | 7:05 PM | at Sacred Heart | Webster Bank Arena • Bridgeport, Connecticut | DeBrouwer | L 3–5 | 231 | 12–14–1 (10–10–1) |
| February 11 | 6:05 PM | at Sacred Heart | Webster Bank Arena • Bridgeport, Connecticut | Grabko | L 1–3 | 341 | 12–15–1 (10–11–1) |
| February 18 | 7:05 PM | Air Force | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | DeBrouwer | L 1–4 | 1,498 | 12–16–1 (10–12–1) |
| February 19 | 4:05 PM | Air Force | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | Grabko | T 4–4 $^{SOW}$ | 1,250 | 12–16–2 (10–12–2) |
| February 25 | 7:05 PM | Holy Cross | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | DeBrouwer | L 2–3 $^{OT}$ | 1,250 | 12–17–2 (10–13–2) |
| February 26 | 7:00 PM | at Holy Cross | Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts | DeBrouwer | L 1–2 | 650 | 12–18–2 (10–14–2) |
| Atlantic Hockey Tournament ||||||||||
| March 4 | 7:00 PM | at Niagara* | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York (First Round game 1) | DeBrouwer | W 3–2 $^{OT}$ | 470 | 13–18–2 |
| March 5 | 7:00 PM | at Niagara* | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York (First Round game 2) | DeBrouwer | W 4–1 | 447 | 14–18–2 |
| Bentley Won Series 2–0 ||||||||||
| March 11 | 7:00 PM | at American International* | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts (Quarterfinal game 1) | DeBrouwer | L 2–5 | 410 | 14–19–2 |
| March 12 | 7:00 PM | at American International* | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts (Quarterfinal game 2) | DeBrouwer | L 2–6 | 310 | 14–20–2 |
| Bentley Lost Series 0–2 ||||||||||
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time. Source: ||||||||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Drew Bavaro | D | 36 | 9 | 18 | 27 | 26 |
| Cole Kodsi | LW | 33 | 10 | 13 | 23 | 10 |
| Matt Gosiewski | C | 32 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 6 |
| Dylan Pitera | F | 35 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 29 |
| Matt Lombardozzi | D | 35 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 62 |
| Collin Rutherford | C | 34 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 2 |
| Lucas Vanroboys | F | 34 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 84 |
| Danny Pearson | F | 27 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 17 |
| Luke Orysiuk | D | 26 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 24 |
| Kohei Sato | LW | 31 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 26 |
| Harrison Scott | F | 33 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 22 |
| Brendan Hamblet | F | 35 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 14 |
| Phil Knies | C/LW | 10 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 2 |
| Cooper Connell | F | 22 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 2 |
| Michael Zuffante | F | 18 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 6 |
| Ethan Roswell | D | 34 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| Eric Linell | RW | 34 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| Tanner Main | D | 32 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 14 |
| Brendan Walkom | F | 31 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| Tucker Hodgson | D | 36 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 45 |
| Ethan Harrison | F | 19 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Will Schlagenhauf | F | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Hunter Toale | D | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| Joe Winkelmann | C | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Fraser Kirk | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jason Grande | G | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marcus Walter | D | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Nicholas Grabko | G | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Matt Clark | D | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Evan Debrouwer | G | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | | | 94 | 160 | 254 | 455 |

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
| Evan DeBrouwer | 20 | 1139 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 52 | 512 | 1 | .908 | 2.74 |
| Nicholas Grabko | 13 | 698 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 39 | 337 | 0 | .896 | 3.35 |
| Jason Grande | 6 | 267 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 132 | 0 | .898 | 3.37 |
| Fraser Kirk | 1 | 60 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 30 | 0 | .857 | 5.00 |
| Empty Net | - | 18 | - | - | - | 6 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 36 | 2183 | 14 | 20 | 2 | 117 | 1011 | 1 | .896 | 3.22 |

## Rankings

| Poll | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 (Final) |
| USCHO.com | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | - | NR |
| USA Today | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 24.

## Awards and honors

| Player | Award | Ref |
| Drew Bavaro | Atlantic Hockey First Team | |