Iona College scored three times in the third period, twice on the power play, to earn a come-from-behind victory over Bentley College Sunday night at the Ryan Rink in Watertown.
After Bentley led 5-3 in the second period and 5-4 after the second intermission, the Gaels tied the game 51 seconds into the third when freshman forward Tim Krueckl scored on the power play.
At 13:05, Iona senior Adam Bouchard knocked in a power-play goal and sophomore Mark Hallamadded an empty-net goal with three seconds to play to wrap up the win for the Gaels.
Hallam (2 goals, 1 assist) and defenseman Jean Paul Chaput (3 assists) finished with three points each for the Gaels while five other players scored two points including Bouchard, who scored twice. Senior Ben Brady earned the win in goal for Iona, making 35 saves.
Iona improved its record to 4-4-1 overall and 3-1-1 in MAAC play while Bentley is still in search of its first win, falling to 0-7-1 overall, 0-5-1 against MAAC competition.
The Falcons scored a season-high five goals against Iona and were led by junior John DiGennaro, who finished with two goals and an assist. Junior Steve Tobio had three assists for the Falcons and leads the team in scoring this season with seven points, all assists.
After falling behind 3-1 in the first period, Bentley rallied with four unanswered goals. Freshman Mike Mulligan started the outburst for the Falcons with his team-leading fifth goal of the season at 19:43 of the first. Tobio and freshman Robert DeLong earned assists on the goal.
At 4:53 of the second, Bentley tied it at three when freshman Scott Trahan scored his first career goal on a pass from DiGennaro.
DiGennaro then scored two straight power-play goals, the first at 7:25 and the second at 11:03 to take a 5-3 lead.
Iona answered late in the second period when Gael freshman Kelly Bararuk scored with just
1:15 remaining until the break. Sophomore John Gilbert and junior Ryan Carter assisted as Iona cut the gap to 5-4 after two and set up the decisive third period.
Bentley sophomore Kevin Williams was between the pipes for his first career start and stopped 25 shots.
The Falcons are on the road next weekend, visiting Army on Friday night and Iona on Saturday. Iona hosts Holy Cross on Friday before the rematch next Saturday.
