WALTHAM, Massachusetts A gritty effort led by strong goalkeeping from redshirt junior Stefano Durante helped the American International College ice hockey team topple Bentley University 4-1 in Atlantic Hockey Conference action on Friday, December 18.

FAST FACTS:
SCORE: AIC 4, Bentley 1
RECORDS: AIC improves to 4-0-0 on the season and 4-0-0-0 in AHC play; the Falcons drop to 1-4-0 on the campaign with a 1-2-2-0 AHC record.
LOCATION: Bentley Arena, Waltham, Massachusetts

STATS:
Bentley:
Brendan Hamblet: One goal
Joe Winkelmann: One assist
Luke Orysiuk: One assist
Nicholas Grabko: Loss (1-4-0), nine saves on 12 shots in 29:35
Fraser Kirk: No decision (0-0-0), 14 saves on 14 shots in 29:57

AIC:
Chris Dodero: One goal, two assists
Elijiah Barriga: Three assists
Luka Maver: One goal
Aaron Grounds: One goal
Sam Miller: One goal
Justin Cole: One assist
Jan Kern: One assist
Stefano Durante: Win (4-0-0), 27 saves

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• AIC opened the scoring early as senior Chris Dodero moved over the line with a pass to junior Elijiah Barriga for a shot; Barriga's bid was stopped, but redshirt junior Luka Maver was at the netmouth to jam in the rebound for his second of the season at 5:52.
• The Yellow Jackets doubled the lead on a breakout, as freshman Sam Miller fed classmate Jan Kern from behind the net with a lead pass out of the zone, and as Kern crossed the red line, he found redshirt junior Justin Cole on the right wing to enter the attacking end. Cole in turn quickly crossed a pass back to the middle, where freshman Aaron Grounds drove toward the net and powered a shot through the pads of Nicholas Grabko at 16:14 for his second of the season.
• In the middle frame, Dodero and Barriga again set up a goal, with the senior winger re-entering the zone after a Bentley clear and finding Barriga driving towards the cage; as Bentley's defense collapsed on him, Barriga pushed a pass behind him to an onrushing freshman Sam Miller, and his shot went through the screen and into the net for his first collegiate goal at 9:35, knocking Grabko out of the game in the process.
• Bentley was able to snap the shutout on the power play, as Brendan Hamblet knocked home a loose puck in a netmouth scramble at 7:00 of the third
• Durante and AIC did not yield again, and once Bentley pulled Fraser Kirk from its net for a sixth attacker, the Yellow Jackets sealed the win as Barriga blocked a pass and then found Dodero at the top of the zone. Dodero beat a defender and then hit the open cage for his third point of the night and second goal of the season at 18:26.

• Dodero and Barriga each recorded a trio of points in the win, becoming the first pair of Yellow Jackets to tally three in one game on the young season.
• Senior Brennan Kapcheck had recorded AIC's most recent three-point performance with two goals and an assist in AIC's win over Holy Cross on February 20, 2020.
• The last time the Yellow Jackets had multiple three-point games in the same contest was February 1, 2020 against Mercyhurst when five players recorded at least three points, including a two-goal, two-assist outing by Joel Kocur '20 in a 7-4 win over the Lakers.

• Kern's assist on the Grounds goal was his first point as a Yellow Jacket.
• Miller's goal in his debut was the second consecutive game in which a freshman has suited up for the first time and scored a goal after freshman Kyle Jeffers did so against Army.
• At least one player has scored his first collegiate point for AIC in every game so far this season; freshman Nico Somerville did so in the season opener with an assist, while Grounds followed with a goal in the finale against Air Force. Jeffers and redshirt sophomore Eric Otto each had their first points against Army.

• Durante has yielded exactly one goal in each of AIC's four games, giving him a goals against average of 1.00, tied with Jack LaFontaine of Minnesota for the best nationally among goalkeepers with at least four appearances.
• He has stopped 88 of 92 shots on the season, with his .957 save percentage tied for third among goalkeepers with at least four starts with David Fessenden of Alabama-Huntsville and behind only LaFontaine and Ludvig Persson of Miami (OH).
• Durante holds a record of 15-2-0 since the beginning of the calendar year 2020.
• He became the fourth goalkeeper in program history to win 30 career games, joining Mark Buckley '90, Ben Meisner '13, and Zackarias Skog '20 as AIC keepers to reach the mark.

• AIC and Bentley will drop the puck at 1 p.m. at the MassMutual Center on the second game of the five-game season series on Saturday, December 19.
• The game, and all Atlantic Hockey Conference matchups, can be watched on flohockey.tv.

• For more updates about the AIC ice hockey team, follow@AIC_HockeyonTwitterandInstagram, and likeAmerican International College Ice HockeyonFacebook. For updates on all AIC Yellow Jackets teams, follow@AICAthleticsonTwitterandInstagram, and likeAIC Yellow JacketsonFacebook.