SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - Behind a hat trick from junior Jake Stella, the American International College ice hockey team took down Atlantic Hockey Association rival Bentley University 5-0 on Thursday, November 18.

FAST FACTS:
Final Score: AIC 5, Bentley 0
Records: The Yellow Jackets rise to 3-7-1 overall and 3-2-0-0-0-1 in the AHA, while the Falcons fall to 5-7-0 overall and 3-4-0-0-0-0 in the AHA
Location: MassMutual Center, Springfield, Massachusetts

KEY STATS:
Bentley:
Nicholas Grabko: Loss (3-5-0), 31 saves in 59:57

AIC:
Jake Stella: Three goals
Chris Theodore: Three assists
Justin Young: Two assists
Elijiah Barriga: One goal, 7-for-10 on faceoffs
Chris Van Os-Shaw: One goal
Chris Dodero: 7-for-9 on faceoffs, four blocked shots
Jake Kucharski: Win (3-5-1), shutout (1), 33 saves

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• AIC scored in rapid fashion in the first, striking three times in 3:56.
• The icebreaker was a breakout play as graduate student Justin Young and senior Chris Theodore worked up the right side before Theodore dished in front for Stella, and the Karlstad, Sweden native fired home the backhanded shot at 11:27 for his second of the year.
• AIC's second of the frame was on the power play, as the Yellow Jackets buzzed around the zone with impunity while up a man. Ultimately, junior Blake Bennett served the puck from the right faceoff dot into the slot for Theodore, who continued it along into the left side of the zone for the onrush of senior Elijiah Barriga. He made no mistake in wiring his second of the year into the open side of the net at 13:10.
• Theodore, Young, and Stella would connect again shortly after for another tally. Theodore set up Young at the midpoint, and he wove his way deep into Bentley territory. As he reached the goal line extended, he backhanded the puck back up the slot to Stella, who stepped into a one-timer for his third of the season at 15:23.
• In the second period, AIC added to the advantage. Junior Brett Callahan leapt up to hold a puck in at the blue line and immediately passed deep for classmate Hunter Johannes, who took a shot that was tipped into the net by senior Chris Van Os-Shaw for his second of the year at 7:45.
• AIC closed out the scoring on the man advantage in the third, and Stella capped the hat trick, blasting his fourth of the year and third of the game five-hole at 6:29 on a diagonal pass from sophomore Brian Kramer, who had the puck after graduate student Brian Rigali won a battle for it in the circle with help from classmate Chris Dodero.

HATS OFF TO STELLA:

• Stella's hat trick was the first of his career; perhaps more incredibly, he had scored just two goals in an AIC uniform prior to the game.
• It marked the first hat trick for a Yellow Jacket on ice since Tobias Fladeby '21 lit the lamp three times in AIC's 6-0 win against Canisius on December 6, 2019.

TRIPLE COMBO THEO:

• Theodore notched a trio of assists in the game.
• The three points moved him into a tie with Rigali for the team points lead with seven.
• The last three-assist showing for AIC was Brennan Kapcheck '21, who posted three apples in a 6-0 win against The College of the Holy Cross on January 29, 2021.

QUOTABLE:

• "It's always fun to score a lot of goals," Stella said, adding, "I couldn't do it without my teammates. They put me in a position to get the puck to the netI'm glad, and I'm glad we got the team win as well."
• "Bentley had a great push in the second. I didn't like our second period; I kind of thought we just kind of walked through itcredit Bentley for a good push there. But I thought we had a real professional, workmanlike third period. It's good to see some smiles in the locker room, because our guys have been working and it's hard to win, and we won't apologize for it," Head Coach Eric Lang said.
• Of Stella, Lang noted "We say 'you get what you deserve,' and no one, in terms of their preparedness and level of professionalism, is as good as Jake Stellahe's one of the top two-way centers in our league."

NEXT UP:

• The two teams will tangle again at 1:05 p.m. on Friday, November 19 at the MassMutual Center.
• Tickets for that game, and all home ice hockey games, are available at www.aicyellowjackets.com/hockeytickets.