LET'S GET IT STARTED
The Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team -- which received votes in this week's USCHO national poll -- opens the 2023-24 campaign at home this weekend. The Pios welcome defending ECAC champion Colgate to town for a pair of non-conference games. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. both Friday and Saturday night in Fairfield. Fans are encouraged to wear white on Friday night, as we look to "White Out" the Martire Family Arena. Randy Brochu and Paul Pacelli have the call live on SNY on Friday night, while Tim Clifton '23 joins Pacelli in the booth on Saturday. Molly Jacob handles sideline reporting duties both days. The games will also be available through FloSports.

LAST WEEKEND
The Pios got tuned up with a pair of home exhibition games last weekend. On Saturday afternoon, Chase Clark made 28 saves and a third-period goal from Brendan Dumas forced overtime, before Matt Copponi won it 49 seconds into the extra session, as SHU was edged by No. 12/14 Merrimack, 3-2 (OT). On Sunday afternoon, the Sacred Heart power play put together a 4-for-6 performance, including three goals in the third, and the Pios rang up an 8-2 win over Ottawa. Mark Cheremeta and Daniel Ebrahim contributed 2-1-3 apiece.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
This marks the second weekend of the regular season for Colgate, which opened up its campaign with a two-game trip to the University of Connecticut last week. The Raiders dropped a 4-2 decision on Saturday night before forcing a 3-3 (OT) tie on Sunday afternoon. Nic Belpedio (2-1-3) and Ross Mitton (1-2-3) tallied three points apiece for Colgate. Carter Gylander played both games in net and stopped 54 of 60 shots on his goal.

PREVIOUSLY AGAINST COLGATE
The Pios and the Raiders will be meeting for the first time in nine years this weekend. The two last met in late October of 2014, when then No. 4/4 nationally ranked Colgate paid a visit to the Milford Ice Pavilion for a weekend series. Spiro Goulakos dished out three assists for the visiting Raiders in a 5-2 win on Friday night, and Tim Harrison scored a pair of goals in a 4-2 Colgate win on Saturday. Andrew Bodnarchuk tallied 34 saves in the Saturday game for SHU.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE RAIDERS
SHU has squared off with Colgate on 11 occasions, with the central New York squad winning all of the previous meetings. The Pios are 0-3-0 all-time on home ice against the Raiders. The closest games in the series came back in 2002, when Sacred Heart dropped a pair of one-goal decisions on the road at Starr Rink, 3-2 and 4-3. The first meeting in the series, which was 23 years ago Saturday, was SHU's first-ever game against a nationally ranked opponent.

UP NEXT
The Pioneers dive right into Atlantic Hockey play in week two, and they don't get to ease into things either. SHU makes a road trip to western New York for a pair of games at the league's preseason favorite, RIT, on Oct. 20-21. Opening faceoff is 7:05 p.m. on Friday and 5:05 p.m. on Saturday at the Gene Polisseni Center in Rochester, N.Y.