After seeing his team get off to a slow start in conference play in previous years, Bentley coach Ryan Soderquist decided to take a different approach to this season, opting for a tough nonconference schedule to begin the year. The Falcons opened with a road game at Northeastern, followed by a pair of home games against Ohio State, as well as Boston College.
They came through with a 2-2 record, including a 6-2 win over BC last Saturday. Soderquist has a simple philosophy when it comes to setting the schedule.
“You can’t beat them if you don’t schedule them,” said Soderquist, now in his 20th season behind the bench at his alma mater. “I want to schedule the hardest teams, the biggest teams in the country every year. Our players want to play those teams. Our alumni and school want to see us play those teams, and our future recruits want to know that you play those teams, as well.”
The program is benefitting from playing in its own arena on the Waltham campus, after years of playing in Watertown. Bentley Arena was completed in 2018, and this season, the Falcons will play more nonconference games at home than on the road for the first time in the program’s history. The team can now schedule nonconference opponents for home-and-home series, rather than playing mostly on the road.
And the fans have been coming out. A capacity crowd of 2,150 watched as Bentley handed BC its first loss of the season. Nicholas Grabko made 38 saves to get the win, and was named the Atlantic Hockey Association’s goalie of the week for the second time this season.
“It’s nice when your starting goalie is the hardest-working guy on the ice every single day,” said Soderquist. “It gives your guys a lot of confidence that he’s going to compete.”
The hope now is that the Falcons will be ready when conference play begins this weekend. Bentley has a home-and-home series this weekend with Holy Cross, which began Thursday with a 4-2 win in Worcester, with the Crusaders traveling to Waltham for Saturday’s 4:05 p.m. start.
Crowds are back
It’s been a common refrain early this season from players and coaches alike: It’s great to be playing in front of fans again. And the feeling appears to be mutual. After being unable to attend games all of last season, the crowds have come back, and have been bigger and more boisterous from before the pandemic.
“I think that we’re all sports fans at heart, whether you’re a current player, coach, or fan, everyone loves the sport,” said Soderquist. “You can definitely hear that the crowds are louder, and more excited. They’re more engaged in the game than they have been.”
The attendance for last week’s game between Northeastern at BC was listed at 7,288. The Eagles prevailed, 5-3, and coach Jerry York marveled at the atmosphere.
“A tremendous amount of students came out to support us. It felt really good,” said York. “I thought it was a key factor in the game. The momentum they gave us was outstanding. A great lift for us.”
Northeastern drew 4,208 for its season opener against Bentley, and is expecting close to a full house when it hosts Colorado College Saturday night. An injury kept sophomore goalie Devon Levi off the ice last season as his teammates played at an empty Matthews Arena. The 4-0 victory over Bentley was his first time playing in front of the home crowd.
“I didn’t know that Matthews could get like this.” said Levi. “I’ve been here every day for a year practicing. I never felt like Matthews has been like this before, so it was a really cool feeling. It felt like a different rink.”
Boston University coach Albie O’Connell acknowledged the fans, and the band, after the Terriers came away with a 4-1 over Sacred Heart last weekend at Agganis Arena.
“Hopefully they’ll come back and continue to cheer, because they gave us a lot of energy,” said O’Connell.
UMass drew 8,412 fans when the Minutemen raised the national championship banner on opening night, and averaged more than 4,000 for the next two home games.
“I think we all need that in our lives, that feeling of community, and what a great place to do it than at a sporting event, where you come together and cheer for a common cause,” said UMass coach Greg Carvel. “You do feel a different energy.”
Denver visits New England
Several NCHC teams will be in New England this weekend. No. 8 Denver (4-0-0) will be at No. 12 Providence (3-2) on Friday, and at No. 10 BC (2-1-1) on Saturday. Before playing Northeastern (2-2) Saturday, Colorado College (0-2-2) faces BC on Friday. No. 6 North Dakota (3-1) travels to Quinnipiac for a pair of games as well … Northeastern defenseman Jordan Harris is day-to-day with an upper body injury after he had a nasty fall from a collision with BC’s Casey Carreau, who was given a game misconduct for slew footing and suspended for two games.
Follow Andrew Mahoney @GlobeMahoney.