Sacred Heart vs. Niagara
Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinal (best-of-three)
March 3 - 7 p.m.
March 4 - 7 p.m.
March 5 - 7 p.m. (if necessary)
Martire Family Arena - Fairfield, Conn.
FloHockey

For the first time ever, it's playoff hockey on campus for the Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team. The third-seeded Pioneers host a best-of-three Atlantic Hockey quarterfinal series against sixth-seeded Niagara on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (if necessary) at Martire Family Arena. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. all three days and tickets are on sale now via Ticketmaster.

Fans can catch the action live all three nights on FloHockey.

LAST TIME OUT
SHU held its Senior Night festivities prior to Saturday night's regular-season finale, and honored the squad's 13 graduate student and senior student-athletes. From there though, visiting American International spoiled the party for a sellout crowd of 4225 at Martire Family Arena. A three-goal second period broke the game open, as the Yellow Jackets cruised to a 5-0 victory and claimed second place in Atlantic Hockey.

A LOOK AT THE PIOS
SHU (16-15-3, 14-9-3 AHA) went just 3-5-1 in the month of February, which cost the team a second-place position it had held for much of the season. The Pios will be looking to re-assert the form it had earlier in the campaign, the last time they met up with Niagara. SHU split with the Purple Eagles on the road in October, as part of a 5-1-0 opening month of Atlantic Hockey play. SHU will be looking to right the special teams ship as it heads into the postseason. The Pio power play scored just twice in the month of February, while the penalty kill conceded eight goals. SHU has suffered quarterfinal-round defeats each of its last four appearances, is 2-7 all-time in quarterfinal series, and is 20-32 in 52 all-time Atlantic Hockey postseason games.

SCOUTING THE PURPLE EAGLES
Sixth-seeded Niagara (16-15-3, 10-13-3 AHA) did not manage much better in the final month of the season, with a 3-4-1 record to its name in February. The Purple Eagles scored a big sweep on the road against regular-season champion RIT on Feb. 9-11, but then stumbled to the finish line, as they were swept at Holy Cross and split a home-and-home with Mercyhurst. Niagara bowed out in the now-extinct first round a year ago, but defeated Robert Morris in the quarterfinals in 2021. All-time, Niagara is 5-2 in quarterfinal series, and has an even 20-20 record in 40 all-time Atlantic Hockey postseason games.

LAST MEETING
The pair split a series at Niagara on Oct. 21-22, with the Purple Eagles taking the opener, 6-4, and SHU bouncing back with a 5-1 win on Saturday evening. Ryan Steele had 2-1-3 in the series for the Pioneers, while Austin Magera dished out a trio of assists. Lars Rodne scored twice in the Friday-night win for Niagara.

ALL-TIME SERIES
SHU and Niagara have been conference foes since 2010-11 and have met 34 times in an all-time series which dates to 2007-08. The Purple Eagles hold a narrow, 17-15-2 edge in the all-time series, which includes a 9-7-2 advantage on the Pios' home ice, though this weekend will mark Niagara's first-ever trip to Martire Family Arena. SHU has taken 10 of its last 14 meetings (10-4-0) with the Purple Eagles, after Niagara won 13 of the first 20 (13-5-2). This weekend's quarterfinal series also marks the first-ever postseason contests between the two teams.

PIOS POSTSEASON HISTORY
The Pioneers are 21-37 in 58 all-time games across 23 appearances in conference tournaments between Atlantic Hockey (20-32, 19 appearances) and MAAC Hockey (1-5, five appearances). SHU has been eliminated in the quarterfinal round in each of its last four appearances in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament and last won a postseason series in 2018, when it defeated RIT in the first round before falling to Mercyhurst in the quarterfinal. The last home-ice postseason action for SHU was the quarterfinal round in 2019, when it suffered a 2-1 series loss to RIT. All-time though, the Pios are 9-4 on home ice in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament and 10-5 on home ice in the postseason overall. SHU was an Atlantic Hockey finalist in 2004 and 2010.

OVERTIME TIDBITS
What better than some postseason overtime hockey for frayed nerves and chewed fingernails? The Pios have played 12 all-time postseason overtime games, with a 4-8 record in those contests. The Pios have gone to multiple overtimes on three occasions (1-2), including a pair of triple-overtime games (1-1). The longest game in program history is a 4-3 (3 OT), season-ending loss to Army in the quarterfinal round in 2021, with the winner coming from Colin Bilek at 13:20 of the third overtime (113:20 overall). SHU's other multiple-OT games are a 4-3 (3 OT) win over RIT in the first round in 2018 (102:19) and a 3-2 (2 OT) loss to Bentley in the first round in 2017 (80:30). Cruelly, both multiple-OT losses have been season-enders for the Pios.