Wallstrom earns first shutout as Ice Hockey defeats Bentley

SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts – The American International College ice hockey team used an outstanding performance from freshman goalkeeper Nils Wallstrom to shut out Bentley University 3-0 in Atlantic Hockey Association action on Thursday, November 2.

AIC is now 2-4-0 on the year and 1-0-0-0-0-0 in the AHA.

In the first, AIC opened the scoring. Blake Wells dug a puck out in the neutral zone and slid it to the center faceoff dot for Brian Kramer. Kramer's pass forward ended up on the tape of the stick of Brett Rylance, who split the defense and beat Connor Hasley for his first of the year at 15:31.

Wallstrom was the story of the middle stanza, as the Falcons pushed hard after conceding the first goal. He made a dozen saves in the second, on top of the 11 he had in the first, to keep AIC's 1-0 lead intact.

In the third, the Yellow Jackets penalty kill was busy, overcoming three early penalties, with Wallstrom backstopping a great effort by the defense that included key blocks by Brett Callahan and Tomi Leppanen.

AIC turned that momentum into a goal. Khokhlachev sprang out of the box and flew into the zone with Rylance on a two-on-none that was started with a pass through the defense by Casey McDonald. Rylance waited out Hasley before passing to Khokhlachev, who roofed his first of the season at 7:15. 

The Falcons kept pushing, but it was to no avail, and AIC put the cherry on top late in the frame as Alexander Malinowski sent Julius Janhonen into the zone on the left side. Janhonen returned the puck to the point for Evan Stella, who wound up and blasted his first of the season into the cage at 14:56.

The Yellow Jackets held the fort from there; they killed a final penalty to help Wallstrom protect his first collegiate win and shutout.

The win marked the 100th Atlantic Hockey victory in Eric Lang's career at AIC. At 100-58-19, Lang's .619 winning percentage is first in league history.

The two teams finish the two-game series on Friday, November 3 at the Bentley Arena in Waltham, Massachusetts. Puck drop is slated for 7:05 p.m.