SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (December 28, 2024) – The Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team returned to work on Saturday afternoon and put together a business-like effort on the road at American International. The Pioneers led 1-0 after one and 2-0 after two, before finishing the job in the third period, for a 4-1 Atlantic Hockey win to open the season's second half. Felix Trudeau (Terrebonne, Quebec) led the way with three points on a goal and two assists in downtown Springfield.
 
"I'm really proud of our effort tonight coming off the break," said head coach C.J. Marottolo after the contest. "I thought our sticks were really good tonight defensively. I thought we got some timely goals. When we did have some breakdowns, our goalie played well and made the saves he had to make."
 
SHU (10-7-3, 9-5-1 AHA) got things started with a pretty passing play to open the scoring at 12:03 of the first. John Jaworski (Grinnell, Iowa) gained the zone in the middle of the ice and the Pios went tic-tac-goal from there: Jaworski to the left wing for Trudeau and immediately back across the slot to Reid Pabich (Verona, Wis.) crashing the right post for the latter's seventh goal of the season.
 
The Pioneers added the second period's only goal as well, at 15:43, to make it 2-0. Amid a battle behind the AIC net, the puck popped up in the air. Matthew Guerra (Orlando, Fla.) was able to glove it down to the right of the goal and feed it out front to an unattended Max Dorrington (North Reading, Mass.), who buried his seventh of the campaign.
 
"I thought the turning point for us was the second period, when AIC really pushed right after that TV timeout," added Marottolo. " We kind of settled in and got back to the game that we need to be committed to to have some success."
 
AIC (5-12-1, 4-8-0 AHA) surged early in the third period and cut the deficit in half just 2:14 into the frame. Moments after he hit the post from the same spot, Brett Bamber was set up by David Posma for a second chance from the left-wing faceoff dot. This time, Bamber hammered home a big one-timer for his third of the year.
 
SHU regrouped from there, regained control of the hockey game, and came up with the dagger at 9:11. Again, Jaworski led the way into the zone, this time winning a battle down the right wing. When he gained full control of the puck, Trudeau was all alone in front of the goal. The latter took Jaworski's pass and ushered it through the five hole of Chase Clark to make it 3-1 SHU.
 
An empty-net goal from Guerra, his fourth of the year, sealed the deal at 18:22.
 
Ajeet Gundarah (Richmond, British Columbia) finished with 27 saves against 28 shots to pick up the win (8-2-1) in front of the SHU net. Clark (2-6-1) stopped 34 of 37 in a losing effort against his former team.
 
"Overall, really proud against a really skilled AIC team that can push you back on your heels at different times in the game," concluded Marottolo. "We'll take the three points and get a little rest tomorrow, then get ready for a very tough Air Force team."
 
SHU opens an eight-game homestand next weekend, when Air Force comes calling for a pair at Martire Family Arena on Jan. 3-4. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are available via Ticketmaster.