Bentley announces 2011-12 schedule

Courtesy of Bentley Sports Information

WALTHAM, Mass. – Bentley University head hockey coach Ryan Soderquist has released his team’s schedule for the 2011-12 season. The Falcons open up with a two game set against last year’s NCAA finalists the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on Oct. 7 & 8.

The schedule features 34 games in all, 27 Atlantic Hockey games and seven non-conference tilts against schools from three different conferences. 15 of the games are at home and 19 are on the road, including the first five.

Following the series against the Wolverines, Bentley faces the University of Massachusetts in Amherst on Oct. 14, a team they beat two seasons ago to win the Toyota UConn Classic. To finish the road trip, the Falcons face Quinnipiac on Oct. 18 for the third straight year and Sacred Heart on Oct. 25 for their Atlantic Hockey opener.

Bentley hosts Clarkson for a two game series beginning Oct. 28 for its home-opener, and visits rival Canisius for a series the following weekend. American International comes to town on Nov. 11 for the first conference home game of the season.

For its final non-conference game of the season, Bentley will take on Yale University, a team ranked No. 1 in the nation for several weeks last season and the number one overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, on New Year’s Day in what will be the first meeting ever between the two schools.

“We are excited to be playing the most aggressive non-league schedule in the history of our program,” Soderquist said. “Opening the season at the University of Michigan, a team with nine NCAA Championships, will prove to be the biggest games we have ever played as a Division I program.”

“We’re also extremely excited to be traveling to Yale for our first ever meeting, as well as games against UMass-Amherst and Quinnipiac,” Soderquist continued. “We’re also hosting Clarkson which will mark the first ECAC team to travel to Bentley at the Division I level. We believe scheduling teams with such rich traditions will help continue to grow Bentley University on a national level in hockey.”

Other notable series will see Niagara and Robert Morris visit Ryan Skating Arena for the first time as Atlantic Hockey teams on the weekends of Dec. 2 and Jan. 6 respectively, and RIT playing  in Watertown for the first time in three years on the weekend of Jan. 20.

Bentley will travel out to Colorado to face the defending conference champions Air Force on the weekend of Jan. 13. The regular season concludes with a home-and-home against Holy Cross on the weekend of Feb. 24.

The schedule can be viewed in its entirety here.