The Chargers rebounded from a beatdown at the hands of Bentley on Friday, but they still came up short against American International. The Yellow Jackets held on to win 4-3 in Springfield, Mass., on Saturday night.

AIC got on the board just 3:17 into the game. Richard Leitner beat UAH goalie John Griggs alone at the doorstep after a pass from Matt Cassidy for a 1-0 Yellow Jackets lead.

Most of the action occurred in the UAH end during the first period, but AIC could only get the one goal.

It wouldn’t take long for UAH to get on the board in the second. On a break, Mat Hagen fed Doug Reid on the right wing, who powered a wrist-shot past Long to tie the game at 1-1 four minutes in.

In what seems to be a trend, AIC answered almost immediately. Jon Puskar, who was the recipient of back-to-back tripping penalties just minutes before, received a pass from Adam Pleskach all alone in the slot. Puskar buried the puck past Griggs to regain the lead for the Yellow Jackets just 1:08 after Reid’s equalizer.

UAH would tie the game again at 2-2 after a Michael Webley goal, assisted by Jeff Vanderlugt, about halfway through the game.

Then AIC’s Adam Pleskach took over. Pleskach received a feed from the near boards and unleashed a one-timer past Griggs to give AIC a 3-2 lead with 3:06 to go in the second.

Just over two minutes later, after a Brice Geoffrion hooking call, Pleskach slapped another one-timer from the point to make it 4-2 Jackets.

UAH cut the lead to 4-3 with Webley’s second goal of the game, putting in the rebound from a Jack Prince shot. Prince and Strukoff with the assists.

UAH had one final chance after Puskar elbowed Prince in the face, resulting in a power play for the final 32 seconds. The Chargers pulled Griggs for the extra attacker, but could not get the tying goal.

UAH visits St. Lawrence for a two-game set on November 2 and 3.

This one hurt.

UAH’s Massachusetts trip got to a rocky start, falling 9-1 to Bentley in Watertown, Mass. It was Bentley’s first ever win over the Chargers, who had won the previous seven meetings.

Not much to say about this one. Bentley only had a 33-27 shots on goal advantage, but the Falcons found all sorts of ways to beat John Griggs and CJ Groh.

Bentley got on the board first with a goal by Ben O’Brien at the 12:03 mark. Bentley made it 2-0 after Andrew Gladiuk punched in a rebound with 6.1 seconds left.

The first half of the second period was pretty even, but Ben Campanelli made it 3-0 Falcons at the 10:45 mark.

UAH’s lone goal came on the power play with 7:01 left in the second. Jeff Vanderlugt redirected a Graeme Strukoff shot from the point past Komm for his first goal of the season.

Bentley pulled away late in the second with goals by Joe Koudys and Ben Gensler 1:14 apart for a 5-1 lead.

Groh took over at goaltender to start the third. Bentley scored early, and then often, with four in the third for the final tally.

UAH heads to Springfield for a Saturday night tilt against American International College. Live stats and video will start at 6 p.m. CT.

InsideVandy.com is reporting that, well, we’ll be playing Vandy’s club team this year:

The Vanderbilt men’s club ice hockey team’s strength of schedule just got a little stronger. The Commodores added the University of Alabama-Huntsville to their schedule on Jan. 5 of 2013. UAH is the only NCAA Division I ice hockey team located in the southern United States. Vanderbilt currently plays in the Southeastern Club Hockey Conference with other club teams.

“The biggest benefit from playing this game is getting an awesome experience,” Club President Kyle McCann said. “It’s a shot at ‘living the dream’ for a day, and seeing how we match up against some of the best college hockey players in the nation. We’re not expecting to win the game, but I’d like to think one of the boys will pull off a sick dangle or two and embarrass some D1 athlete.”

Right now it’s not on their schedule, and it’s not on their site, and it’s not on our schedule, and it’s not on our site, but … hey, maybe it’s happening.  Why?  Adrian, whom we’re scheduled to play January 4 & 5, will surely be better competition for the boys, but Vanderbilt is clearly a bigger name, and when you look at the fact that we get more Saturday night fans after football season is over, it may make a good bit of sense.  If you look at Vandy’s schedule and ours, this is the only time that the game could be scheduled, as the ‘Dores’ schedule gets busy, well, the same time that everyone else’s gets busy.

Update (1520 CDT, Fri 10/26): We have confirmed that UAH will indeed play Vandy, replacing the game against Adrian for that night. There was a conflict on the Bulldogs’ end that kept them from playing both games.

The Chargers were formidable in the first period, but St. Cloud State dominated the rest of the way to win 4-0 Saturday in St. Cloud.

The start was similar to what happened in Friday‘s 8-3 loss. The Chargers put the pressure on early. But also like Friday, native Huntsvillian Nic Dowd put the Huskies on the board first. Dowd stole the puck from Lasse Uusivirta, deked his way toward UAH goalie John Griggs and buried it just 3:54 into the game.

St. Cloud seemed to take control after that goal — another similarity to game one. UAH also again found its way to the penalty box with a holding call on Mike Webley at 10:52, and then a trip by Sebastian Geoffrion at 12:05 created a two-man advantage for the Huskies.

The Chargers would methodically kill both penalties, and that put a spring in their step. UAH would hold on and finish the first period down just 1-0.

St. Cloud would dominate the second, outshooting the Chargers 19-4. The Huskies took a 2-0 lead on a nice back-handed centering pass by Drew LeBlanc to Andrew Prochno. LeBlanc made it 3-0 by driving in a rebound after a Charger power play.

That was one of the few rebounds given up by Griggs, who was solid in the net for UAH. Griggs finished with 38 saves on 42 shots.

The Huskies continued the pressure in the third, and Kalle Kosilla added a goal to make it 4-0. Goaltender Ryan Faragher stopped all 18 UAH shots.

Next up for the Chargers is a two-game Massachusetts swing. They play at Bentley in Waltham on Friday, Oct. 26, followed by American International in Springfield on Saturday, Oct. 27.

It’s another long and winding road schedule this season for UAH, and it was another rough start for the Chargers.

UAH would find some life on the power play with three goals, but St. Cloud State overmatched the Chargers 8-3 Friday night at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn.

The Chargers came out strong out of the gate, notching four of the first five shots on goal. But three penalties brought the action into the UAH defensive zone for most of the first period, and two beautiful passes gave the Huskies an early 2-0 lead.

The first goal was scored by — wouldn’t you know it — Huntsville native Nic Dowd. After a Craig Pierce tripping penalty, Drew LeBlanc fed Nic Dowd in the slot, and Dowd slapped it past UAH goaltender John Griggs to open the scoring for the Huskies 7:31 into the game.

Two minutes later, LeBlanc found Brooks Bertsch alone in the right circle, and Bertsch rifled it past Griggs and giving St. Cloud a 2-0 lead.

The Huskies would outshoot the Chargers 16-6 in the first period.

The second period was a mix of fortune and frustration for the Chargers. On a UAH power play four minutes in, the Chargers crash the net and score, but the goal is overturned as Alex Allan is called for pushing the puck in with his hand.

Allen would not be denied two minutes later, redirecting a Graeme Strukoff pass in the slot past St. Cloud goalie Joseph Phillippi. The power play goal cut the Huskies’ lead to 2-1.

St. Cloud answered just 29 seconds later with an Ethan Prow goal.

The Huskies then put on a passing clinic, as four players touched the puck before a wide open Cory Thorson made it 4-1 at 11:11 of the second.

UAH would fight back on the power play. At 12:13, Kyle Lysaght’s blast through the screen just seven seconds into the man advantage made it 4-2 St. Cloud. Curtis deBruyn and Justin Cseter got the assists.

But again, almost immediately, St. Cloud had the answer. A long drive from the point by Ethan Prow 35 seconds later gave the Huskies a 5-2 advantage.

Dowd would make the score sheet again, feeding  Joey Holka in front. Holka would bury it past Griggs’ left side with 3:31 to make it 6-2 St. Cloud after two. Despite a more even period, the Huskies outscored the Chargers 4-2.

CJ Groh relieved Griggs to start the third. Griggs made 22 saves, but many of the goals were short-range and the result of beautiful passing by the Huskies. Groh stopped eight of 10 shots.

UAH had chances in the third thanks to a vicious hit on Lysaght by Jarrod Rabey, which resulted in a major power play. Two of the five minutes were killed because of a highly questionable tripping call on Lasse Uusivirta, but once the power play resumed, UAH capitalized. Jamie Kendra’s blast from the point was deflected by Graeme Strukoff upstairs past Phillippi for the Chargers’ third power play goal of the game. Alex Allan was also credited with an assist.

But that was all UAH could muster. Tim Daly and Jonny Brodzinski would add goals for the final 8-3 score.

UAH and St. Cloud State battle again Saturday at 7 p.m.

More recaps:

• UAHChargers.com
• St. Cloud Times (with photo gallery)
• USCHO