New era begins at Bentley
Falcons lose opener
WALTHAM — Ever since he first stepped onto the ice as a college freshman out of Arlington Catholic 22 years ago, Bentley’s Ryan Soderquist dreamed of last night. Even after becoming the Fal- cons all-time leading scorer and taking over the coaching reins, he knew how much of an advantage other programs held with regard to having an on-campus facility.
Soderquist can now proudly boast “Go Falcons” after the university last night opened its new multi-purpose facility that will surely provide equal footing within the college hockey world.
“It’s already creating a buzz with recruiting. It’s been big. I’ve seen it the past month with all the recruits coming through. It’s something we’ve been waiting for a long time,” said Soderquist before Bentley’s 5-1 loss to Army. “The last month I’ve learned a lot. It means more to recruits than I ever thought.”
It was 6:27 p.m., when junior defenseman Tanner Jago led his team onto the ice for pregame warmups and the pucks began a steady staccato around Coach DeFelice Ice Rink. The state-ofthe-art $45 million Bentley Arena facility looked worth every penny. The arena has a seating capacity of 1,917, marking the year the school was founded, with another 500 standing room positions.
“This arena is unbelievable. This is spectacular,” said Weston’s Bob Ferguson, who played hockey at Bentley in 1971-72 and brought along his 8-year-old grandson Bobby. “They’ll be able to recruit better. I think that they’ll be able to compete for a national championship in about 10 years. They’re super competitive now.”
Following a rendition of the national anthem by Bentley sophomore Ashley Scholten in which the sold-out crowd of 2,207 was only too willing to join, the game was underway. Bentley sophomore defenseman Brett Orr scored the arena’s first goal with a shot that trickled past Army goalie Cole Bruns at 2:20 of the second period.
The jubilation lasted only until 5:40, though, when former Boston University defenseman Dalton MacAfee of Needham set up Alex Wilkinson’s tying goal. Army went on to ruin Bentley’s parade by scoring four third period goals, including three in a span of 4:15, to skate off with the victory.
“What an atmosphere,” said Army coach Brian Riley. “I’m really happy for Ryan, his players and coach (Bob) DeFelice. To have a building like this, it’s great for them, great for our league, great for college hockey.”
Atlantic Hockey commissioner Barney DeGregorio said Bentley is the latest jewel among league facilities.
“This is the third new facility in the last five years,” said DeGregorio, along with RIT and Canisius. “Everybody has that good facility they can recruit to and be proud of and say this is our home. You drive by this campus and it’s great. This is the latest diamond in the bracelet.”