USAF ACADEMY, Colo. (February 9, 2024) – The Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team had two shots at the midpoint of the game on Friday night at Air Force. Then the Pioneers' third shot created a big rebound which allowed for a goal on their fourth. Then their fifth shot went in as well. If there were tables on the ice at Cadet Ice Arena, they would have been turning.
 
In the end, SHU was outshot 33-13. The Pios scored three timely goals though. The penalty kill was a perfect 3-for-3 on the night, including another major killed off. Justin Robbins (New York, N.Y.) made 31 saves. The figures all added up to a 3-2 victory and, more importantly, three valuable points on the front end of a two-game voyage into the Rocky Mountains.
 
The win allowed SHU (14-14-2, 14-7-1 AHA) to gain a point on first-place RIT, which needed overtime to win a 7-6 barnburner at Mercyhurst on Friday night. The Pios are now four points clear of third-place Holy Cross, which is idle this weekend.
 
"A very gutsy effort from our guys on the road tonight; our PK was tremendous, great goaltending, and we got some timely goals," said SHU head coach C.J. Marottolo after the game. "It's not easy coming out here on Friday night and playing after traveling. I'm proud of our effort."
 
It was Air Force (14-16-1, 11-9-1 AHA) which controlled the first period, to the tune of an 8-2 shots advantage, but the Falcons could only capitalize once. Multiple failed clears from the SHU defense resulted in a 2-on-0 down low. Will Gavin provided a nifty feed from the left side which left Parker Brown with a gaping net to finish off his sixth of the season at the 17:17 mark.
 
The Pioneers had to kill a major penalty that straddled the first intermission and played the rest of the game without one of their co-captains, as Hunter Sansbury (Lomita, Calif.) was sent to the locker room for hitting from behind at 18:19. Air Force negated some of the advantage with a too-many-men penalty early in the third, and Sacred Heart killed things off without incident.
 
SHU (14-14-2, 14-7-1 AHA) was outshot 11-4 in the second stanza, but had the only two goals of the frame to surge out front for good. The first came just after the game's midway point, as Andrius Kulbis-Marino (Methuen, Mass.) held the puck in at the right point and got it down low to Kevin Lombardi (Schwenksville, Pa.). Lombardi found Conner Hutchison (Hicksville, N.Y.) at the top of the zone and the latter drifted down into the slot. Hutchison's first shot was saved by the right pad of Guy Blessing, but the blueliner followed his own shot and brushed home the rebound at the left post for his first of the campaign at 10:31. It was Hutchison's first goal since Jan. 21, 2023, against Holy Cross.
 
The Pios also struck in the final three minutes of the period, at 17:16. Lombardi and Marcus Joughin (Tecumseh, Ontario) combined to work the puck to Kulbis-Marino at the right point. Kulbis-Marino let a cannonading drive fly from there, but it was blocked by the defense. The rebound came right back to him though, so he hammered it again. This one found paydirt, for his fifth of the year.
 
SHU bookended the second intermission with tallies, as the red and white got an insurance marker at 3:52 of the third. From the right half-wall, John Jaworski (Grinnell, Iowa) fed Mikey Adamson (Quincy, Mass.) in the high slot. Adamson redirected for Joughin, who carried into the left circle and put away his seventh of the season.
 
Air Force got one back down the stretch, at 17:16. It was a tic-tac-goal kind of play, as Brown sent the puck from the right point down to Chris Hedden in the corner. Hedden immediately targeted Clayton Consentino at the top of the right circle, and the latter blasted home a big one-timer from there for his 10^th of the year.
 
From there, as Samuel L. Jackson once said, it was "hold onto your butts" time for Pioneer fans. Air Force got Blessing to the bench for the extra attacker inside the final 90 seconds and generated two more shots in a final bid to tie the game. Robbins (6-4-0) turned them both aside though, to finish a 31-for-33 night and secure the three points for SHU.
 
Blessing (14-16-1) stopped just 10 of 13 in defeat in the Air Force crease. The 13 SHU shots matched the lowest for a winning team in Atlantic Hockey play this year, equaling Holy Cross' output in a win at Bentley on Nov. 18.
 
"We are certainly happy, but we know there's more work to be done tomorrow," added Marottolo. "Air Force, I know their coach and I know their team; they're going to be ready to play.
 
The two teams will wrap up their weekend series on Saturday at Cadet Ice Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m. (EST).