SHU Men vs. Niagara 3/8/24 | 2024 Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals Game 1 | 6-3 L
-Second straight year these two have met in the AHA Quarters. Niagara won last year in three games -Mark Cheremeta was in the lineup for the first time since December 9th at Princeton. He slotted in on the top line with Jaworski and Tuck -Early stoppage for a review on a hit 3:26 in. Nothing came of it -Braeden Tuck got the scoring started on the Power Play with 6:51 to go in the first period. TJ Walsh and John Jaworski got the assists -Kevin Lombardi gave the Pioneers a 2-0 lead on a weird angled shot just four minutes into the second. TJ Walsh got his second assist on the goal. Marcus Joughin also grabbed an assist -Garrett Sundquist took a penalty with 13:47 to go in the frame. Hunter Sansbury made an unreal play after the puck got through Robbins to clear it off the line and save a goal. He blocked a shot right after as well -Niagara would get on the board 6:35 to go in the second on a Tyler Wallace goal. The second period would end 2-1 SHU. -Then the third started. Carter Randklev scored 1:21 into the period to tie the game. Then, he scored again 30 seconds later to give Niagara a 3-2 lead. 13 seconds after that goal. Jonathan Ziskie scored to make it 4-2 Purple Eagles. Three goals in 44 seconds for Niagara. Absolutely back breaking -Braeden Tuck scored his second of the day off a wild sequence. John Jaworski came out of the box and found himself on a breakaway, but was stuffed. Tuck scored on a rebound, but it was called no goal, but then reviewed and counted. Jaworski got an assist -1:09 after the Tuck goal, Niagara scored on a Power Play. They would add an empty netter with 50 seconds to play to make the final 6-3 -SOG finished 35-34 Pios -2,354 was the announced attendance. Not terrible with the students on spring break SHU Men vs. Niagara 3/9/24 | 2024 Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals Game 2 | 5-1 L -Pios needed to win to force a Game 3 -Daniel Ebrahim would open the scoring just 19 seconds in. It was an odd angled shot that somehow managed to find the back of the net. This would be the only goal SHU would manage -Niagara would tie the game 3:11 into the second period, then score two goals in less than a minute (one on the Power Play) to take a 3-1 lead -Jake Bongo had a really good chance right in front at the end of the third that was shut down -Jack Richard would score, again on the Power Play, 4:30 into the third to make it 4-1. That's when it felt like it finally was out of reach -Niagara would add an empty netter with 3:18 to go to make the final 5-1 -The Sacred Heart Power Play would go 0/3 on the evening. Niagara went 2/4 -2,639 announced attendance. Again, not terrible without the students -This is the second straight year Sacred Heart was eliminated in the quarterfinal round by Niagara -SHU has still not reached the Atlantic Hockey Semifinal round since 2010, and has not won a playoff series/round since 2018 (They did advance in 2021, but that was because Holy Cross withdrew due to COVID issues) -The Pios finished the year on an 0-5-1 skid after sweeping AIC and winning game one at Air Force -It is a disappointing end of the year. SHU was in first place heading into CT Ice (RIT had games in hand to be fair), but still slid down to third and fell as the higher seed again, being outscored 11-4 in the two games. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't frustrated as a fan -Season Leaders
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SHU Women vs. Franklin Pierce 2/23/24 | 2024 NEWHA Quarterfinals Game 1 | 3-1 L
-This was the second year in a row Sacred Heart and Franklin Pierce have met in the NEWHA Quarters. Last year, FPU hosted, winning the series in three games -This was also the first playoff series the women's team has hosted at Martire Family Arena -The Ravens jumped out in front first. Anna Caumo scored on the Power Play to give FPU the lead -Sacred Heart would answer just 2:39 later, when Paige McNeil scored to tie the game. Olivia Laroche and Kailey Smith had the assists. This would be the lone goal for the Pioneers in the series -Franklin Pierce would regain the lead with 8:06 to play in the third on a goal from Claire Casey and add an empty netter with 40 seconds to play -Sacred Heart finished the game with only one Power Play opportunity. It was early off a high stick, the Pios registered two SOG. FPU was 1/5 on the Power Play -SHU had 39 shots on goal in the game. Their 7th highest total this season. Paige McNeil, Izzy Chaput, and Sydney Antonakis had 5 shots each. Chaput added three blocked shots -Jillian Petruno finished the game with 22 saves on 24 shots SHU Women vs. Franklin Pierce 2/24/24 | 2024 NEWHA Quarterfinals Game 2 | 2-0 L -Grace Schuck scored the opening goal of the game with 23 seconds to go in the first period. That was all the scoring until the final three minutes of the game when the Ravens added an empty netter -Jillian Petruno stopped 25 of 26 shots she faced. Pios finished with 29 SOG -Both teams went 0/3 on the Power Play. The Pios Power Play finished the year operating at 12.6% (Tied for 34th Nationally) -This is the third season in a row that Sacred Heart has been eliminated from the NEWHA Tournament by Franklin Pierce. The were knocked out in the quarterfinals last season, and the semifinals the season before -Season Leaders
SHU Men at Bentley 2/24/24 | 2-2 T | Bentley Won Shootout 2-0 -Heading into the weekend, SHU was out of the running for the regular season AHA Title (RIT went back to back). But the Pios could have finished between 2nd and 4th. The scenarios were as follows:
-Sacred Heart opened the scoring on the Power Play 12:31 in. Marcus Joughin potted his 8th of the year to give the Pios a 1-0 lead. John Jaworski and Mikey Adamson had the assists -The Sacred Heart PP would go 1/3 on the night -Brendan Dumas would score his second goal of the year six minutes after the Joughin goal, giving the Pioneers a 2-0 lead -Bentley would get their first goal 40 seconds into the second on the Power Play -The rest of the second period would be scoreless as was the first 12 minutes of the third, until Ryan Upson scored for the Falcons to tie the game at two -Sacred Heart did have a push at the end of the third, looking for the go ahead but couldn't find it. With the game heading to overtime, Sacred heart would be locked into the three seed in the AHA Playoffs -Bentley would end up winning the shootout 2-0, grabbing the extra point -Justin Robbins stopped 21 of 23 shots in regulation and overtime -Hunter Sansbury blocked four shots -Garrett Sundquist blocked three. He's got four blocks and a goal in the last two games after returning to the lineup -Slipping all the way to third is a little disappointing. Especially after being in first place as late as January 26th (heading into CT Ice). It would have been nice to have home Ice for the first two rounds, especially with a semifinal against Holy Cross as a possibility (SHU lost both games in Worcester this year) -The AHA Tournament reseeds after the first round. So SHU's quarterfinal opponent is TBD. If everything goes chalk, it would be Bentley (SHU was 1-1-1 against the Falcons this year) -SHU hasn't been to the Atlantic Hockey Semifinals since 2010, and have not won a playoff round since 2018 when they beat RIT 2-1 in a first round series (Technically SHU advanced in the 2021 AHA Tournament, but that was due to Holy Cross withdrawing because of COVID). They look to change all of that in two weeks SHU Women vs. Saint Michael's 2/2/24 | 5-2 W
-SHU jumped up 2-0 in just over eight minutes on goals by Cassie Nevers (assisted by Sophie Lupone) and Paige McNeil (assisted by Kate Helgeson and Peyton Bennetts) -Saint Mikes would strike twice in a five minute span n the middle of the second period, tying the game at two -59 seconds after SMC tied the game, Kate Helgeson scored to give SHU the lead back 3-2, then she scored again 3:08 later to make the game 4-2 Pios. Kate is tied for the team lead in points with 16 (along with Paige McNeil and Sophie Lupone) -Kerryn O'Connell scored her second goal of the year 35 seconds into the third period to make the game 5-2, and that is where it would stay -34 more saves for Jillian Petruno. She currently leads the NEWHA in save percentage (.943) and goals against average (1.99). She's also third in total saves (722) SHU Men vs. AIC 2/2/24 | 4-3 OT W -Chrome helmets made their return. We should just wear them every game -Justin Robbins made the start in net. Cullen DeYoung was the backup. Chase Clark was dressed and on the ice, but he did not take any shots in warmups and stayed in the neutral zone near center for most of it. Not sure if he's still hurt, or if there is something else going on -Robbins would be tested early, making a save on a partial breakaway just 8 seconds in -AIC would strike first 8:55 into the first period off a bad turnover by the Pioneers -Daniel Ebrahim would answer 40 seconds later to tie the game on a bouncing puck -New goal horn? I don't hate it, but I like the old one better -It also felt like there were a lot of new graphics at MFA, including the SHU win graphics postgame (we'll get there) -After a bit of a shaky start, SHU had the edge for most of the second period, leading in shots 18-6 -The second period, was not SHU's best. AIC controled the play for basically the entire 20 minutes. The Jackets would take the lead 2-1 with 6:48 to go in the frame, and then score again with 47.3 to play in the second. Taking a 3-1 lead into the third period -Sacred Heart managed just five SOG in the second -Mikey Adamson got Sacred Heart back into the game with a power play goal 4:20 into the third. That snapped an 0/13 streak on the PP for the Pioneers -Liam Izyk was called for slew footing and ejected with 15:10 to go in the game, so Sacred Heart had to kill off a five minute major. Which the Pios did. AIC didn't have any high danger chances, and only managed two shots on goal -55 seconds after killing the major penalty...Daniel Ebrahim scored his second of the night to tie the game, sending the 3,947 at Martire Family Arena into a frenzy. The third period was terrific for the Pioneers -The Pioneers had a couple really good chances to win in regulation in the final minute. Jake Bongo had a driving chance with 50.5 left to plat that was stopped, then Hunter Sansbury ripped one off the post with 20 seconds to go. Regulation would end 3-3, so we would play overtime. It would be the 6th OT game of the year for SHU -Overtime would not last long. Mikey Adamson buried the game winner just 30 seconds into the extra session (his second goal of the game), sending everyone in the arena home happy, and giving the Pioneers a much needed win and two huge points -Blake Humphrey picked up three assists on the night. Sansbury, Bongo, and Jaworski also grabbed assists -Four more blocked shots for Hunter Sansbury -30 saves on 33 shots for Justin Robbins SHU Women vs. Saint Michael's 2/3/24 | 1-0 W -This was the Heart to Heart game for the SHU Women. An initiative that they do yearly to support mental health among student athletes. The team wore special grey and green jerseys for the occasion -Carly Greene got the start for SHU. Her first appearance since December 9th against Post -Sacred Heart was totally in control from the jump. The best chance early on came on a 2 on 1 with Paige McNeil and Iyla Ryskamp. Pios had a huge lead in SOG halfway through the first period (12-5) -Cassie Nevers would score the first (and only) goal with 5:08 to go in the first period off a really nice pass from Sophie Lupone. Nevers ended up with three points on the weekend -Only three penalties were called all weekend. All three in this game (SMC was 0-1, SHU 0-2) -The rest of the game was pretty low event, but Sacred Heart was in control the whole way and was never really challenged. Saint Mike's had a couple moments where they had scoring chances, but nothing really sustained. They didn't get their goalie pulled until the final 24 seconds -First shutout of the year for Carly Greene, who stopped all 24 Saint Michael's shots -7th straight game with points for the Pioneers (4-1-2) -Sacred Heart is now tied for 4th in the NEWHA Standings with FPU (Pios own the tiebreaker) and are in line to host a NEWHA Quarterfinal series. SHU is also just two points back of Stonehill for third -SHU is back tomorrow against LIU (this game was rescheduled from 1/6 due to snow). A huge NEWHA tilit SHU Men vs. AIC 2/3/24 | 3-1 W -Justin Robbins was the starting goalie again. Same story as the night before. DeYoung seemed to be the backup, with Clark not taking shots -AIC scored on their second shot of the game 38 seconds in...and then didn't score again -The Jackets came out of the gate absolutely flying all over the ice in the first five minutes. This game was the most physical game I've seen Sacred Heart play all year. And it was that way for all 60 minutes -The first penalty would be called on Marcus Joughin 7:35 into the first...there would be THIRTEEN total penalties in this one (SHU was 0/5 on the PP, AIC was 0/8) -The Sacred Heart Penalty kill is now operating at 84.7%, which is 13th nationally -Dante Fantauzzi scored his second goal of the year on a delayed penalty with 6:00 to play in the first, tying the game 1-1 -Sacred Heart would score twice in the first 1:55 of the second period. Hunter Sansbury absolutely blasted one home (his 5th of the year), and then TJ Walsh found the back of the net for his team leading 13th goal of the season to put SHU up 3-1. That's all the scoring we would have, and all the Pios would need -Grant Anderson was called for a boarding major after review with 10:32 left in the second period, so SHU had to kill a five minute major for the second night in a row (which they did) -SHU would stay on the PK for seven consecutive minutes after Fantauzzi was called for a trip right at the end of the major, but the PK did their job and kept SHU up two -The third period would be just as physical as the first two, if not moreso. With bodies flying around, and extra curricular's after every whistle -AIC ripped one off the post with 7:54 to play, and then Kevin Lombardi was stopped on a breakaway. So that was a wild sequence -AIC would empty their net with 2:44 left. They would have a 6 on 4 advantage after Hunter Sansbury was called for a trip with 1:43 to go, but couldn't score -The extra curricular's continued until the final 6.3 seconds, when Dante Fantauzzi and Grayson Dietrich wrestled each other to the ground and went at it -The game ended with a 3-1 Pioneer win. SHU ended up with 5 out of a possible 6 points on the weekend. Huge -This was the first weekend sweep for SHU since November 24th and 25th at Robert Morris -Two assist night for Kevin Lombardi. Sansbury and Fantauzzi both ended up with two points (a goal and an assist each) -Blake Dangos and Marcus Joughin both ended up on the scoresheet with assists -Justin Robbins finished with 32 saves. Stopping 31 in a row after the early AIC goal. He's got a 2.66 GAA and a .906 SV% on the season -Hunter Sansbury blocked seven more shots, and won AHA Defensive Player of the Week -SHU sits in second in Atlantic hockey, two points behind RIT (who has a game in hand) and one point ahead of Holy Cross (SHU has two games in had on the Crusaders) -Sacred Heart heads west this weekend to take on Air Force in another huge AHA series On CT Ice 2024 and the Future of the Event
-I was on the fence about one more round of rotation on campus sites vs. hosting the event in Hartford permanently. Not anymore. If we want this event to be what it can be, it should have Hartford as the permanent home -It's a central location for the state (25 miles from UConn, 30 miles from Quinnipiac, 39 miles from Yale, and 55 miles from SHU) and has the parking plus the bars and restaurants to go to before games. I've seen rotating back and forth between the XL and Webster Bank thrown around on Twitter, but taking all of that into consideration, I feel like the XL is just the best location -The XL can truly be a neutral location as well. Yes, it has been UConn's home rink. Odds are they're going to have the most fans. That's just the nature of the beast. The XL is big enough to comfortably fit all four fanbases, and all four bands (or three if Yale doesn't bring one again) to help make the event what it can be. But it has to be truly neutral. Paint the ice like the first two events in Bridgeport, hit the goal horn and Brass Bonanza for all four teams, run ads for all four schools, etc. It can truly be great in Hartford -I do think CT Ice needs some kind of committee to run the tournament year in and year out to take it out of the hands of the individual schools. Each school should probably have a rep (maybe with a neutral head), but the Tournament will run better if the people running it are totally separate from the schools -I would also like to incorporate the women's teams for each school into this event. I know they play the Nutmeg Cup but I think having the men's and women's tournament under the same banner can only be a good thing. SHU Men vs. UConn 1/26/24 | CT Ice Semifinals | L 6-2 -No chrome helmets. Sad. -Had to start the game listening on the radio (shoutout 4pm start time on a Friday. Even tho I get why)...2:35 in, the Huskies scored on a Michigan. So not the most ideal start. -Kevin Lombardi answered right away. 1:01 after UConn opened the scoring, Lombardi's 10th goal of the year got things even (Mikey Adamson and Jake Bongo got the assists). -UConn added two before the end of the period (both scored by Hudson Schandor. The Huskies also had a goal called back) to take a 3-1 lead into the locker room after one -Liam Izyk got the Pios back to within one 2:36 into the second period (assisted by Tyler Spott), but that would be all for the Pioneers offensively for the afternoon. -UConn would score 31 seconds into their first and only power play off the game with 13:46 to go in the second, and then would score again three minutes later to make the score 5-2. -Chase Clark was yanked immediately after the 5th UConn goal. Chase finished with just 8 saves and 5 goals allowed. Justin Robbins would finish the game, stopping all seven shots he faced -Chase was banged up in the Princeton game at MFA. He hasn't looked right to me since. I'm not sure if he's still banged up, but something is off. -SHU was 0/3 on the Power Play against the Huskies. This included a five minute opportunity after Nick Capone was called for elbowing. -UConn would add an empty netter with 2:27 to go in the third, making the final score 6-2. -The Pioneers finished with 38 shots on goal. Their second highest total of the season (They had 39 against Mercyhurst on January 5th). Offensively, I think the Pioneers played a fine game. They generated pressure and chances, Arsenii Sergeev was on his game. -Later that night, RIT knocked off Bentley, moving the Tigers ahead of Sacred Heart for first place in Atlantic Hockey SHU Women at Stonehill 1/26/24 | T 2-2 -Cassie Nevers and Grayson Limke scored in the second period to give the Pioneers a 2-0 lead -Sophie Lupone got the primary assists on both goals. Nevers grabbed an assist on Limke's goal, and Anastasia Sloan picked up an assist on Nevers goal -Alexis Petford scored twice in a span of 1:29 (at the end of the second and beginning of the third period) to tie the game at two. The game would stay tied through the rest of regulation and overtime -Jillian Petruno finished with 40 saves, including 7 in overtime. It's the 4th time she's hit 40 saves in a game this season SHU Women at Stonehill 1/27/24 | T 2-2 -All the scoring in this one would come in the third period. Stonehill would score first 3:44 into the period, with Grayson Limke answering 20 seconds later to tie the game 1-1 -Five minutes after the Limke goal, Julianna Koman would score to give SHU the lead, only to have the Skyhawks tie the game 1:20 later -Another two assist night for Sophie Lupone. She's up to 14 points on the year, which is tied for second on the team. Cassie Nevers and Olivia LaRoche also had assists -Jillian Petruno finished with 40 saves again. That's the 5th time she's done that this season -This was the fourth straight overtime game for the Pioneers (1-1-2) -SHU is currently 5th in the NEWHA Standings. Two points behind Franklin Pierce for 4th (the Pios have a game in hand) -Sacred Heart has a two game series with Saint Michael's next weekend at MFA, followed by a Tuesday night game against LIU SHU Men vs. Yale 1/27/24 | CT Ice Consolation Game | L 3-2 -No chrome helmets again. Even sadder. -Justin Robbins got the start in net for SHU after being inserted for Chase Clark midway through the UConn game (not sure at all who will be in net when AIC comes to town next weekend) -Sacred Heart got a Power Play opportunity just 21 seconds into the game when the Bulldogs were called for tripping. SHU recorded two shots, but no goals. The Pio Power Play would end up 0/4 on the day, and 0/7 on the weekend. -Chikara Hanzawa would open the scoring with 4:39 to go in the first period, scoring his second of the year (assisted by Cole Galata and Dante Fantauzzi). -Yale would answer the SHU goal 3:15 later off a backhander and a rebound. And then would take the lead 22 seconds into the second period on a goal that hit a Pioneer in front, and bounced up and over Robbins. Bad puck luck. -The Bulldogs would go up 3-1 6:19 into the third period on an absolute rip of a shot. -John Jaworski would score with 1:05 to go and the goalie pulled, but that's as close as SHU got. The Pios, I thought, we're the better team the first two periods. But just looked gassed in the third. -Yale hit the post four times throughout the course of the game. -Sacred Heart finished with 37 shots on goal. The third highest total of the season -SHU is just 3-7-1 since coming back from winter break. -This is the first time the Pioneers have finished 4th at CT Ice -John Jaworski was selected as a member of the CT Ice All-Tournament Team -Sacred Heart is now three points behind RIT (who also has a game in hand) for first place in the Atlantic, with Holy Cross just two points behind for the second spot -SHU has a huge series with AIC coming next weekend at MFA As we head into CT Ice week, I thought a post on my overall thoughts on the event in the past and going into the future would be appropriate.
I was ecstatic when the event was officially announced in 2019. I grew up watching the Beanpot, and I knew, like Boston, we had four D1 Hockey teams. An event like this seemed like a no brainer. It brings the state together and should help to create rivalries in a small state that has a ton of hockey history. Then Sacred Heart won the first tournament. The smallest school of the big four knocked off a Yale team that had won a National Title six years earlier, and then national power Quinnipiac. It was an awesome story across College Hockey. I remember seeing how excited that team was as the clock wound down and finally hit double zero and thinking “wow we really may have something in this event”. Then March of 2020 happened. The 2021 tournament was understandably canceled. 2022 was back in Bridgeport. SHU had a shot to defend it’s title, and looked like they were going to until Joey Cipollone scored with 1:19 to play in regulation to tie the game and then Zach Metsa won it in overtime for the #2 Quinnipiac Bobcats, who went on to win the title. Then there was last years tournament. We didn’t find out what the event was called or that it was going to be broadcast on SNY until literally the day of the game (seriously, look up the QU Press Release). I remember someone had to tag me in a random link they found on the QU website that said “Connecticut Hockey Tournament” to buy tickets. It’s not a knock on QU. I thought the tournament was fun in Hamden last year, but the organization going into it was an absolute mess. A lot of it came from SNY drama, but we don’t have to get into that. Last year can never repeat itself if this event wants to be taken seriously. Which brings us to 2024. CT Ice (which yes we found out the name and location over the summer instead of the day of lol) heads to Hartford for the first time. We also found out that Sacred Heart gets to host at Martire in 2025, and Yale at Ingalls in 2026. This leaves us knowing that the tournament will plug on for at least three more years. Afterwards, who knows. Personally, I think this event needs to continue. It is not only good for the state, bringing all four fan bases together, but it’s also an event that can put Connecticut college hockey on a national stage, at least for a weekend. There was also some drama last year on where the event should be hosted. UConn head coach Mike Cavanaugh said it should be played every year in Hartford. That it should be played at a big venue. While Qunnipiac coach Rand Pecknold pushed for the rotation model that we have. Personally, right now I think the rotation is good. It builds excitement at the individual schools and its awesome in the smaller rinks. Cav is right, however, eventually I think the event should be played each year in Hartford. It’s a big arena, it’s the middle of the state (some schools will have a longer drive than others however) and I think having that central location every year is only good for the tournament. “We’ll see you in Hartford” type of deal. I love the idea of CT Ice. I think there are plenty of things that need to be tweaked and improved upon. I think the fan bases care, and if it's done the right way, can be a marquee sporting event in the state year in and year out. Anyway, lets get onto the weekend. Let’s go Pios, and let’s beat UConn. SHU Women at Post 12/8/23 | W 3-0 -Played at SHU's old digs, The Sports Center of Connecticut in Shelton -First of four meetings between the instate conference foes -Another weird start time (1:30pm on a work day). Not totally sure about the schedule in Shelton, but I wish it started later -Paige McNeil opened the scoring with 55 seconds to go in the first period (unassisted). She then scored again 13:33 in to the second period (assisted by Peyton Bennetts), and added an assist for good measure on Olivia LaRoche's goal (Sydney Antonakis also had an assist). Capping off a three point afternoon. She's third on the team in points with 12 -Pios took five penalties (PK was five for five, hold that thought) -Second straight shutout for Jillian Petruno, stopping all 30 shots against her. She's made 392 saves this year, and has a GAA of 2.60 and a SV% of .927 SHU Men vs. Princeton 12/8/23 | L 4-0 -First game back at Martire in almost a month (11/11/vs. Canisius) -New sweaters, and some new additions to MFA -The orange jersey's that Princeton wore were sooooo not it. I got some pushback on Twitter, but the big numbers on the front just made them look like football jerseys
-The Robbins brothers took the opening draw which was a cool moment -Slow start for the Pioneers, in the first five minutes Princeton had six shots on net, SHU had none -The Tigers opened the scoring with 9:31 to play in the first. Tons of traffic in front, and the puck looked like it redirected on the way in. Not sure clark even saw it -Pioneers ended up with five power play opportunities on the day. While they had a ton of possession and zone time on most, there were no real high danger chances. Princeton did a good job clogging the middle -With 4:30 to play in the second, Chase Clark went down after a collision in front of the net. He was pretty slow to get up, but the trainers never made their way onto the ice and he stayed in the game. The Tigers would make the lead 2-0 1:23 after the collision -Cullen DeYoung led the Pioneers onto the ice to start the third period. It would be his collegiate debut in net. Clark would not return to the bench in the third, let alone the game (his official injury status is unknown) -Overall, not a bad debut for DeYoung. He stopped 6 of the 7 Princeton shots that he faced. The goal he allowed came 3:13 into the third -Princeton would add an empty netter with 3 minutes to play, icing the game -This was the first time that Sacred Heart had been shutout since Feb. 25th of last year (a 5-0 loss vs. AIC) SHU Women vs. Post 12/9/23 | 3-2 L -Carly Greene was back in net for SHU, making her 9th start of the year -Penalties were the story of this game. 15 total penalties were called (8 on Post, 7 on SHU). Both of Sacred Heart's goals came on the Power Play -Penalties continue to plague the Pioneers. SHU averages 10.9 PIM/G. The second highest rate in the nation -Sophie Lupone started the scoring 4:31 in on the Power Play. Post would then rattle off three straight goals to take a 3-1 lead into the final frame -Izzy Chaput scored (again on the PP) with 5:48 to play to cut the lead to 3-2, but the Pioneers couldn't find the tying goal with the net empty -This was the first time Post had defeated Sacred Heart (the Pios were previously 30-0-1 vs the Eagles. The tie came last season) -The Pios come back from the winter break on Jan. 2nd, when they head to Boston to take on Harvard SHU Men at Princeton 12/9/23 | 2-2 T (SHU Win's SO 2-1) -No Chase Clark in this one. Cullen DeYoung would get his first collegiate start between the pipes -Another slowish start for SHU, Princeton controlled possession early on, but this would not last -Cullen DeYoung rose to the occasion early, his best save coming with 10:55 to go in the opening period on a penalty kill, going from left to right -Jake Bongo was denied in the slot off a beautiful feed from Hunter Sansbury with 7:43 to play in the first. Best chance to that point -Twenty seconds after that Jake Bongo chance, Daniel Ebrahim turned on the jets to score his third of the year with 7:22 to play in the first, giving Sacred Heart a 1-0 lead. Rylee Hlusiak and Tyler Spott had the assists -The Tigers would tie the game 2:38 into the second period, leading to a teddy bear toss by the Princeton faithful -Hunter Sansbury would rip one home with 8:56 to play in the frame for his third of the year, SHU would lead 2-1. Had tons of room on that shot. Daniel Ebrahim and Jake Bongo would get the helpers -Daniel Ebrahim would be called for a five minute major with 6:58 to play. Nothing intentional, but while crashing the net on a scoring chance, he made contact with the goalies head -The Pios PK rose to the challenge. Princeton only had one shot on net during the five minutes, and never really looked settled. The PK would be 3/3 on the day. SHU would lead 2-1 after two -TJ Walsh would be denied on a partial breakaway 1:38 into the period, and then minutes later Robbins and Hanzawa couldn't stuff the puck in -Princeton would tie the game 2-2 with 17:12 to play -The rest of the period was action packed both was. Pretty even until the last few minutes that were controlled by the Tigers, but regulation ended tied, so we went to OT for the second time this season -Pios didn't really have a ton of possession in overtime. DeYoung came up huge a few times. Jaworski had the best scoring chance with 30.5 to play. Nothing went either way so we went to a shootout (game was officially a tie) -Was a a little surprised we went to a shootout seeing as it wasn't a conference game -Kevin Lombardi would score on the third SHU attempt, which was answered by Princeton -Mark Cheremeta scored a DISGUSTING shootout goal with one hand in the fourth round (was #5 on the SportsCenter top ten), and then Cullen DeYoung stopped Princeton, so the Pios would win the shootout 2-1 -A much better performance for the Pioneers than the night before at MFA. Looked like a totally different team -Cullen DeYoung in his first start: 32 saves on 34 shots. He also stopped 3/4 in the shootout -Sacred Heart heads into the winter break in second place in the Atlantic Hockey standings. Two points behind RIT (who has a game in hand) -SHU returns from break on December 30th at MFA when they take on #16 UNH SHU Men vs. AIC 12/1/23 | Jason Pagni Memorial Game | 5-4 W | Everybody Rides -This game was played at Avon Old Farms in memory of Jason Pagni, an Avon alum and a fixture in the Connecticut Hockey Community. Proceeds went to the Connecticut Hockey Foundation. This was an excellent event, that I so wish I could have attended. Auction items included jerseys signed by Jonathan Quick, Trevor Zegras and Kevin Shattenkirk -Sacred Heart scored first, with Andrius Kulbis-Marino beating Nils Wallstrom. AIC would answer with two, before the Pios ripped off three in a row, the first two on the Power Plat by Mikey Adamson and Kevin Lombardi (who stays hot). Mark Cheremeta had the third to put Sacred Heart up 4-2 14:16 into the third. -AIC would get within one a minute and a half after Cheremeta scored, only to have Daniel Ebrahim answer 11 seconds after -The Pios would hold on for a 5-4 win. Marcus Joughin ended up with two assists, while Cheremeta added an assist as well as his goal -Chase Clark had 32 saves for the Pioneers SHU Women vs. Assumption 12/2/23 | 1-0 W -This was the first ever meeting between Assumption and Sacred Heart -Jillian Petruno was the story of the game. Recording a 36 save shutout. This was her third win on the season. Her GAA sits at 2.83 with a SV% of .921 for the season -The game was scoreless into the third period, until Isabella Chaput buried her 7th goal of the year (assisted by Olivia LaRoche and Julianna Koman) to give the Pios the lead, for what turned out to be for good -Chaput's goal tied her for the team lead in goals with 7 (tied with Sydney Antonakis). She's also second on the team in points with 11 (one behind Antonakis) -Sacred Heart has a home and home with Post on December 8th and 9th before the long winter break. Returning on January 2nd at Harvard SHU Men at AIC 12/2/23 | 3-2 L -This game was back on the road in Springfield -Kevin Lombardi opened the scoring with three and a half to play in the first period. That goal momentarily gave him the team lead with 8 on the year (hold that thought). Lombardi's point streak is now at six games -AIC would add two goals in the second period to take the lead 2-1, before TJ Walsh tied the game 5:29 into the third period. That goal tied him with Kevin Lombardi for the team lead with 8 goals. Walsh continues to lead the Pios in points with 17 -The game remained tied until the final 2:33, when John Lundy scored for AIC, giving them the lead for good -Chase Clark finished this one with 31 saves. Capping off another solid weekend. -The Pios return home on December 8th against Princeton, before making the trip to Jersey for the return game. They are then off until December 30th against UNH Off the bat, apologies for the lack of content in the past few weeks. Work & life has been insanely busy and I straight up have not had time. hopefully should be going back to normal heading into the holiday season!
SHU Women vs. #13 Yale 11/24/23 | Nutmeg Classic Semifinal | 10-0 L -So was not ideal...there was a reason that Yale is ranked where they are -Carly Greene made 44 saves, which tied her game high on the season (SHU Recap) -Olivia LaRoche had 6 blocked shots, plus a SOG -Just a general event note. I love that the Nutmeg Classic exists. I'm almost positive it's older than CT Ice. That being said, why not do it the same weekend? Or even the weekend before. Doesn't necessarily have to be at the same venue, but I feel like the two events should be closer together. And under the same name. SHU Men at Robert Morris 11/24/23 | 4-2 W -Chase Clark got the start in net again (spoiler alert, he did on Saturday as well). He's started all 12 games for the Pioneers registering a 2.35 GAA and a .919 SV%. He had 25 saves on 27 shots in this one -Kevin Lombardi opened the scoring 11:36 into the first, and John Jaworski added another 1:15 later. Mark Cheremeta had assists on both goals -TJ Walsh scored the third goal of the opening frame with less than a minute to play. Kevin Lombardi grabbed his second point with an assist -Daniel Ebrahim iced the game with 39 seconds to play in the third with an empty netter SHU Men at Robert Morris 11/25/23 | 3-1 W -First period was kind of slow for the Pioneers. RMU took the lead early on a breakaway goal (which is all they would get) -Sacred Heart would finally find the back of the net with 3:57 to go in the second, when Marcus Joughin scored on the Power Play (he's now on a four game point streak) -The Pios took the lead 2-1 in the third, when freshman Jake Bongo scored on a turning shot from just inside the slot. Liam Izyk and TJ Walsh (who leads the team in points with 14) got the assists -TJ Walsh is also on a four game point streak. He has registered a point in all but three games this year -Kevin Lombardi put the game away 37 seconds to go with an empty net goal. He is also on a four game point streak, and has registered a point in every game but two (RIT on 10/20 and at LIU) -John Jaworski continued his strong play, grabbing two assists on the Joughin PP goal, and the empty netter. He's had two points in three straight games, and is also on a four game point streak (he's had points in 9 of SHU's last 10 games) -21 saves on 22 shots for Chase Clark, who continues his great play -This was Sacred Heart's 4th win in a row, and 6th win in a row in conference play. The Pios currently sit alone in first place in Atlantic Hockey. Five points ahead of RIT (with a game in hand) -The Pios have two games vs. AIC next weekend (12/1 at Avon Old Farms in the Jason Pagni Memorial Game), followed by a home and home with Princeton before having 20 days off for the Christmas break SHU Women vs. #11 UConn | Nutmeg Classic Consolation Game | 3-1 L -Jillian Petruno got the start in net. She and Carly Greene continue to alternate starts (Petruno has started 9 games and played in 12, Greene has played in and started 8) -Petruno was under fire most of the game. Stopping 53 of 56 UConn shots (23 in the first, 21 in the third). Her 53 saves was a career high -Paige McNeil had the lone goal for Sacred Heart, her third of the season. She absolutely ripped a shot from the circle past Warrener in the 2nd period to tie the game at one. McNeil was also hurt later in the period, as she got taken down in the corner (probably should've been a trip called) -UConn scored on a power play eight minutes after McNeil scored to tie the game to take the lead. SHU did a good job to get a 5 on 3 back to 5 on 4, but just couldn't clear and were exhausted by the time UConn scored -The Huskies would score again 1:12 later to take a 3-1 lead, and that is where the score would stay. A lot of the thanks for that goes to Petruno in net -The Pios are back in action next Saturday for their first ever matchup with Assumption, followed by a home and home with Post, and then their long 23 day winter break. SHU has one non-conference game the rest of the way (1/2 at Harvard) SHU Women at Saint Anselm 10/27/23 | 5-3 L
-First matchup vs. Saint A's this season -Pios dug themselves a hole early. The Saint A's scored the opening goal five minutes in, and added a power play goal before the end of the first frame -The Hawks doubled their lead in the second, adding two goals (one shorty) to go up 4-0 -Then Isabella Chaput happened. She ripped off a natural hat trick in roughly eight minutes of game time between the end of the second into the third period. She got the Hawks lead down to 4-3 with 13:10 to go in regulation (Kate Helgeson assisted on her second and third goals) -Chaput now leads the team with four goals, while Helgeson is the leading point scorer with 6 -Just 2:07 after Chaput got the Saint Anselm lead down to one, the Hawks converted on a power play to get the lead to 5-3, which is where it stayed -Carly Greene got the start for Sacred Heart after Jillian Petruno started the Ice Breaker Third place game. Greene made 19 saves on 22 shots before Petruno came in for the second half of the game, stopping 15 of 17 shots SHU Men vs. Niagara 10/27/23 | 4-3 OTL -First matchup between SHU and Niagara since the Purple Eagles knocked the Pios out of the Atlantic Hockey Tournament last March -Chrome helmets were back and need to stay forever -100th career college games for Mark Cheremeta and Kevin Lombardi -No Daniel Ebrahim for Sacred Heart. He was hurt last weekend against RIT -John Jaworski got the scoring going early with a shot from the near circle for his second goal of the year. That came just 5:15 into the game -Niagara would answer soon after (this is a theme for this game). Scoring just a minute and a half after Jaworski did to tie the game at one -TJ Walsh would give the Pioneers the lead back with 6:24 to go in the second on a nifty backhander (Kevin Lombardi made a great defensive play that led to Walsh getting the puck in a position to score) -2:21 later, on a power play, Niagara tied the game. 2:03 after that, Braeden Tuck scored on a rebound on the Power Play, to give SHU the 3-2 lead at the end of the 2nd -28 seconds into the third, Niagara scored to tie the game at three. And that's where it would stay through regulation. This was the first OT game for SHU since February 24th of last season, where the Pios would fall in a shoutout vs. AIC -Right before overtime (literally at 19:59 before overtime) Mark Cheremeta was called for a trip. So Niagara would start the OT on a Power Play. 1:43 into OT and the PP, they converted, and SHU would fall 4-3. The Purple Eagles were 2-3 with the extra man on the night -Braeden Tuck and TJ Walsh had two point nights, both with a goal and an assist -18 saves on 22 shots for Chase Clark SHU Women at Saint Anselm 10/28/23 | 5-1 L -Carly Greene got the start for the second night in a row, and her 5th on the year -St. A's would score just 1:10 into the game, and add two more goals in less than a minute in the middle of the period to take a 3-0 lead after one -The Hawks would add two in the second period, one on the Power Play, to take a commanding 5-0 lead -Cassie Nevers would score her first goal of the year (assisted by Sophie Lupone and Paige McNeil) 4:16 into the third. That would be the only scoring of the frame, and the game would end 5-1 -SHU took three penalties in game one (St. A's converted on two) and six in game two (the Hawks scored once). The Pioneers are currently averaging 10.8 PIM's per game, which is third most nationally. That's only behind Clarkson (11.0) and Holy Cross (14.9). And Sacred Heart's PK% is just 74.4%, which is 7th lowest nationally. Penalties are killing the Pios night in and night out -Carly Greene finished with 44 saves on 49 shots -SHU is back home next weekend against Franklin Pierce SHU Men vs. Niagara 10/28/23 | 4-1 W -Back in the building on homecoming weekend. While it was beautiful outside, that nice cool air in the rink felt so good -No Daniel Ebrahim again, not sure how long he will be out -100th College game for Liam Izyk -The first period FLEW by. Especially the first half. Pretty good flow, little edge in play to Niagara, but not by much. Not really any stoppages -Golden opportunity for Niagara with 8:40 left in the opening frame was turned away by SHU. To me it looked like TJ Walsh blocked it, but Chase Clark was credited with a save -Speaking of blocks, Sacred Heart ended up with 19 as a team in this one -I thought the penalty kill was excellent. The PK was 4/4, and other than a clean look from the slot in the second, and one Clark stopped with his face in the third, I didn't think Niagara really had any dangerous chances. For a PK unit that's operating at just a 68.8% kill rate (T-4th lowest PK% nationally while only averaging 6.3 PIM's per game which is the 7th fewest in the country), they had a great night. Kevin Lombardi even had a short handed chance on the second PK. Nothing super dangerous, but a chance none the less -Jake Bongo scored the first goal of the night and his college career with 6:37 to go in the first period, off a rebound of a Tuck-Jaworski 2 on 0. Both of them got assists on the goal. The first period would end with SHU up 1-0 -Blake Humphrey had a hell of an effort with 16:43 to go in the 2nd to get between the defense for a shot on net that was denied -Niagara would even the game with 6:26 to go in the second -Only one Power Play for Sacred Heart, which they took advantage of. TJ Walsh scored his second of the weekend from the near circle (with a great screen in front by Braeden Tuck) to give the Pios a 2-1 lead with 55.3 to go in the 2nd -Chase Clark was on his game again. Especially in the third period. His two best saves came aroudn the halfway mark of the third making two pad saves to keep Sacred Heart up 2-1, and then made another with 6:48 left on a clean Niagara look -Weird thing happened at the media timeout in the third period. A Niagara player skated to the box, and I was actually getting ready to tweet Power Play for Sacred Heart before I realized that it was still 5 on 5. Then an announcement was made that there was a 10 minute game misconduct called on Niagara. No idea what was done or said -Liam Izyk iced the game with 1:35 to go on an empty netter, his first goal as a Pioneer and then Kevin Lombardi added an empty netter with 12.9 seconds left to make the final 4-1 -Two assist night for Braeden Tuck -37 saves for Chase Clark, who was excellent again -Quick turnaround for the men this week, as they play Army on Halloween, before heading to LIU next Sunday SHU Women vs. Lindenwood 10/20/23 | 4-2 L -Semifinal for the 2023 Icebreaker Tournament being hosted at Martire Family Arena for the first time -Paige McNeil grabbed her first goal of 2023-24 four minutes into the second period to tie the game. Kate Helgeson (who's tied with Kailey Smith for the team lead in points) and Olivia Laroche grabbed the assists. That was also McNeil's first goal since scoring the game winner against Harvard last season (H/T SHU Athletics for that stat) -Kerryn O'Connell scored her first of the year towards the end of the second period to tie the game at two. But Lindenwood would take the lead 4:50 into the 3rd and would not give it up -Penalties, again, doom the Pioneers. Sacred Heart took six penalties, two of which were cashed in, including the game winner 4:50 into the third. SHU is averaging 9.3 PIM/G. Which is the 12th highest in the country (The Pios were also 0-4 on the PP) -Carly Greene got her first start in three games, registering 30 saves on 34 shots (Lindenwood did have 1 ENG) SHU Men at RIT 10/20/23 | L 4-2 -2023-24 Atlantic Hockey opener for both teams -John Jaworski got the scoring started four minutes into the first period for his first goal of the season. The assists went to Braeden Tuck and Mark Cheremeta -RIT evened the score 3:30 into the second on a penalty shot, then took the lead 2-1 on the Power Play with 5:05 to go in the 2nd (The RIT PP was 1/3, but there is also that Penalty Shot goal) -Dante Fantauzzi scored his first of the year 1:11 after RIT took the lead, helped by the first collegiate assist for Jake Bongo and the first Sacred Heart Point for Liam Izyk -RIT would retake the lead for good 2:43 after the Fantauzzi goal, then added an empty netter with 25 seconds left in the 3rd -Chase Clark stopped 27 of 30 shots in net SHU Women vs. #10 Northeastern 10/21/23 | L 4-1 -3rd Place Game in the Icebreaker Tournament -The story at the start of the game was the Antonakis sisters. Sydney took the opening draw of the game against her sister Alyssa. There's a cool picture that was taken by Josh Gee that I'll post below (it's also in the graphic at the top) -This game was also the collegiate debut for Amelia Lynch
-The full SHU band was at this game which I loved -The Huskies jumped in front 3:23 into the first. Taze Thompson grabbed that one, then scored again 7 minutes later to make the lead 2-0. Peyton Bennetts had a really nice block right before the second goal, and just had bad puck luck as it found Thompson and the Huskies converted -Northeastern added a third goal with 10 seconds left in the first to go up 3-0, and then a fourth 14:50 into the second. Sacred Heart really didn't have much offensive flow in the first period -Paige McNeil had a wild sequence on the Power Play in the second period. She rang one off the cross bar, had another stopped, a shot blocked, then another shot stopped. That was the best offensive pressure SHU had in the game to that point -Nicole Bessinger scored the Sacred Heart goal at 7:52 of the third period, for her first goal of the year. The assist came from Cassie Nevers for first point of the season -Three power plays for both teams in this one, both were 0-3 -Jillian Petruno was back in net for Sacred Heart in this one. She made 25 stops on 29 shots -Sacred Heart gets back into NEWHA play next weekend at Saint Anselm SHU Men at RIT 10/21/23 | 5-2 W -Old buddy Luke Lush was in net for RIT in this one. Lush played in 25 games for Sacred Heart last year, starting 33 of them, registering a 2.69 GAA and .899 SV% before transferring -Blake Dangos scored his first goal in college just 2:33 into the game, as he ripped one past Lush after his initial shot was blocked (Marcus Joughin and Grant Anderson got the assists). RIT actually hit the post not soon after the opening goal -Both teams were pretty sloppy with the puck early one, and kind of throughout the entire game. Sacred Heart had a few really good chances from Braeden Tuck off those turnovers. One went wide, the other he converted to put SHU up 2-0 -I have no idea how SHU didn't add a third at the end of the first period. Luke Lush was WAY out of position and the puck was bouncing aroun the net, just couldn't convert. A break for the Tigers -I thought Tyler Spott had a good game. Didn't have a point, but I felt like i noticed him more than once defensively breaking up a chance with his stick -The third goal for SHU was just an awesome individual effort by Hunter Sansbury. The goal of the very early season for sure -I feel like Daniel Ebrahim should have like five goals on the year already. Pretty sure I tweeted that during the game. His speed is incredible and has created some really good chances in the first four games -That brings us to the review towards the end of the second period. Initially, the broadcast said the play was stopped because Ebrahim was hurt. They did not show him down, or show the hit, and we do not have an update on his status (I don't think he returned after the hit) -Then came an 8+ minute review of the play. The broadcast wasn't sure what was going on, and I only pieced it together after RIT tweeted that SHU had challenged for a hit in the neutral zone, and after Chris Lerch of the USCHO replied to one of my tweets. There was just a lot of confusion that took some time to put together -Turns out, it was a great decision by Coach Marottolo to challenge. The refs called a major on RIT, giving SHU a five minute Power Play that carried into the third period -The Power Play didn't net much. Tuck had a good chance with 30 seconds to go in the 2nd period, but that was about it. RIT actually had a really dangerous short handed chance at the start of the third -The SHU Power Play is now just 1-12 on the year, which is a success rate of just 8.3%. Thats 47th nationally -Grady Hobbs got RIT on the board with 12:32 to go in regulation, then had another dangerous chance right after -Kevin Lombardi had a chance on a 2 on 1 with roughly 11:30 to go, but after that momentum totally swung to RIT for the rest of the period -RIT's second goal, scored by Cody Laskosky, was a kind of ridiculous between the legs goal to cut the lead to 3-2 with 7:26 remaining -After that, SHU was on defense the rest of the way. The Pios even had to kill a hooking penalty with 2:56 to go, which was their first PK of the game -Chase Clark and the SHU PK held, and almost immediately after the kill, Braeden Tuck scored an empty netter to ice the game and let everyone take a gigantic exhale. TJ Walsh added another empty netter with 2 seconds left, to make the final score 5-2, giving Sacred Heart a MASSIVE early season AHA series split (SOG in the third ended up being 10-4 RIT. Two of the SHU SOG were the empty netters) -Chase Clark was excellent. Especially in the third period. He made several massive saves to keep SHU ahead, finishing with 33 stops on 35 shots -This win snapped a four-game losing streak for SHU against RIT -Sacred Heart has now played 11 consecutive games at RIT (one was at Army, three were the 2022 AHA Quarterfinals). The last time SHU played RIT at home was March 15th, 2019 -Niagara comes to Fairfield next weekend for Homecoming. Remember, the Purple Eagles ended Sacred Heart's season in the AHA Quarterfinals last year |
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