Ice hockey dominant in series opener against Bentley

SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts -- Nicholas Cardelli and Brett Callahan had four-point nights, with the former notching his first collegiate hat trick, as the American International College ice hockey team earned a 7-2 Atlantic Hockey Association victory on Thursday, December 1.

The Yellow Jackets are now 8-7-3 on the season, with a 6-5-1-1-0-0 AHA mark.

Despite near-complete command of the first, AIC needed almost 15 minutes to notch the game's first tally. It came off of a Bentley turnover in the corner following a faceoff win for the Falcons that Alexander Malinowski fired up the right-wing wall to Callahan, whose one-timer was redirected by Jordan Biro for his seventh of the year at 14:32.

The offense took off in the second frame, thanks in part to an early power play. Brian Kramer set up Josh Barnes in the slot for a one-timer that was blocked, but the rebound bounced right to Cardelli in the left circle, and he wired his fourth of the campaign in at 3:36. Less than three minutes later, Brett Callahan sprang Cardelli with Timofei Khokhlachev on a two-on-one, and Cardelli slid a perfect pass to the rookie winger, who had gotten past the defense, for a tap-in at 6:28, Khokhlachev's second of the season. 

Bentley notched a power play goal soon after to get back into the game, as Harrison Scott put a right-side shot under the bar at 8:14, but AIC finished the period strong, and scored another power play tally on a netmouth scramble. Blake Bennett put his AHA-leading 11th of the season into the cage through Nicholas Grabko at 14:16 after the puck bounced to him from Brett Rylance and Dustin Manz, giving AIC a 4-1 lead heading into the final stanza. 

The Yellow Jackets continued to collect goals in the third. Callahan found Biro with a good pass into the netural zone, and Biro tipped it to the right side for Malinowski, who skated onto it. The freshman winger drove into the circle before cutting to the net and backhanding the puck back to Biro, who drove the middle lane and was able to net his ninth of the season at 3:53.

Bentley brought it back within three on a netmouth scramble of its own just shy of the middle of the third. Nick Bochen pushed a puck into the net at 9:52 to cut AIC's lead to 5-2.

Cardelli took over the game from there. He gathered the puck behind his own net and came out the left side of AIC's zone, beating defenders to get to the net front and score his fifth of the year unassissted at 14:29, and then after a penalty put AIC on a 4-on-3 power play, Callahan connected with Biro at the left side of the net, and instead of firing in an attempt to net his own hat trick, crossed the crease for Cardelli to tap in his sixth of the year at 15:02 to complete his own hat trick -- the first of his collegiate career.

In AIC's net, Jarrett Fiske stopped 18 shots to earn the victory, improving to 4-3-3 on the season. Grabko made 32 saves for Bentley.

The two teams finish off the home-and-home on Friday, December 2 at 7:05 p.m. in Waltham, Massachusetts.