The good times at Cadet Ice Arena were short-lived. 

Air Force took an early lead to open the game, but defending Atlantic Hockey America champion Bentley scored three unanswered to earn the 3-1 win and the weekend sweep of the host Falcons. Air Force has dropped its last three games. 

Air Force sophomore defenseman Beau Janzig opened the scoring on Saturday with a goal 6:35 into the first period. The score was the first of Janzig’s career with the Falcons. 

Air Force (10-10-2, 6-7-1) held Bentley off the scoreboard in the first period, but the visitors responded with two goals in the opening three minutes of the second. 

Bentley scored its first goal of the night on the delayed penalty at 1:50 courtesy of forward Michael Mesic. Forward Jake Black scored the go-ahead goal for Bentley just under a minute later at 2:49. 

Black netted his second goal of the night and third of the weekend with an empty-net goal at 18:29 of the third period. 

Air Force entered the weekend tied for the conference lead in goals scored this season with 66, but despite the potent offense, Bentley remained stout defensively.  Air Force scored just once, though it had a 30-16 advantage in shots.

Air Force junior goalie Dominik Wasik had 13 saves in the contest. 

Despite the final score, Air Force coach Frank Serratore said he was proud of the effort from his team.

“Our team showed up tonight,” he told a team broadcaster postgame. “We didn’t show up last night, but we showed up tonight and played our game. We put our best foot forward, but we just didn’t get any puck luck tonight. The team that showed up for Air Force tonight needs to show up every night. Their goalie was terrific and they blocked a lot of shots. This was a hard-fought game.”

Air Force returns to the road next weekend, facing Holy Cross.