BACK AT IT
The semester break is in the books and it's seven straight weekends of hockey from here for the Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team. The second half opens with an Atlantic Hockey one-off to ring out 2024 on Saturday night, as the Pioneers pay a visit to downtown Springfield to take on American International. Puck drop is set for a 1 p.m. matinee at the former Springfield Civic Center, home to the American Hockey League's Springfield Thunderbirds. Seth Dussault has the call on FloSports.

LAST TIME OUT
SHU closed out the first half in style, with a five-piont weekend in Western New York, via a 1-0-1 trip to Canisius on Dec. 6-7. On Friday night, Felix Trudean went for 1-2-3 and Reid Pabich recorded his first collegiate multiple-goal game, as the Pios jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the second and went on to a 4-2 victory. On Saturday, the Pioneers saw a 3-1 lead slip away in the back half of the game on the way to a 3-3 (OT) tie, but pulled out the extra point courtesy of Trudeau's shootout winner.

SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS
AIC, which has announced the 2024-25 campaign will be its final season of Division I ice hockey, alternated wins and losses over its final six games (3-3-0) to close out the first half, which has buoyed the team's record somewhat after a 3-11-1 start. The Yellow Jackets were last in action at home on Dec. 6, when Jack Stockfish provided the game's only goal 58 seconds into overtime, as Holy Cross dealt AIC a 1-0 (OT) defeat. AIC is really struggling to generate offense, as the Yellow Jackets average just 2.00 goals per game, which ranks ninth among 11 Atlantic Hockey squads.

PREVIOUSLY AGAINST AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL
The two teams last met on the first weekend of February, down the stretch run of last season, when SHU swept a pair of games at home to put together an important five-point weekend at Martire Family Arena. On Friday night, the Pioneers struck twice in the third to erase a 3-1 deficit and then Mikey Adamson provided the overtime winner, as SHU rallied for a 4-3 (OT) victory. Sacred Heart got it done in regulation on Saturday, 3-1, on the strength of 22 blocked shots and an 8-for-8 showing from the penalty kill.

ALL-TIME SERIES
With just four meetings left in an all-time series which spans 78 games and dates to November of 1994, Sacred Heart holds a 38-31-9 advantage over the Yellow Jackets, including a 30-24-7 margin across 61 Atlantic Hockey games. SHU even holds a winning record all-time on the road against AIC, with a 20-18-6 margin across 44 contests. The Yellow Jackets hold a slim, 6-5-1 advantage over 12 all-time meetings at the MassMutual Center in downtown Springfield.

UP NEXT
Sacred Heart will be home for basically the entire month of January, with an eight-game homestand across the next four weekends following Saturday's trip to AIC. Air Force comes calling for a pair of Atlantic Hockey contests next weekend to ring in 2025 on Jan. 3-4. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday at Martire Family Arena. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.