FAIRFIELD, Conn. –  The Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team wrapped up preseason play this afternoon with a 5-1 win over Simon Fraser at the Martire Family Arena. 

Senior Joshua Barnes led the way for the Pios with a hat trick, tallying the team's first three goals. Jake Bongo and Jeremi Tremblay also scored on the way to SHU's convincing victory. 

How It Happened:
The Pioneers struck first at 6:05, when Barnes tallied his first goal as a Pioneer. Ethan Wolthers started the play by stealing the puck in the neutral zone before sending a pass to Barnes, who went five hole for the score. 

SHU maintained a 1-0 advantage for the remainder of the opening period, owning a 13-7 lead in shots in the process. In goal, Jack Spicer turned away all seven of the shots he faced in his first game action as a Pio. 

Both teams found the back of the net in the second period, as the Pios headed to the third up 2-1. Simon Fraser scored first, capitalizing just after a power play expired to tie the score at 1-1 at 6:03 in the period. 

SHU answered 6:38 later to retake the lead, 2-1. Wolthers again sparked the play, skating to the right dot and waiting for a charging Barnes, who sent a shot over a diving goalie after a nice deke. 

The third period was all Pioneers, as the home team scored three more times to ice the game. Barnes capped his hat trick 4:44 into the frame, as two quick passes found the senior for a wrister from the right faceoff circle for the score. 

Tremblay made it 4-1 with a strike at 15:37. After breaking the forecheck with a nice touch pass from Jack Hillier, Tremblay had just the goalie to beat, as he sent a shot in glove side. 

The final score of the night came from Bongo, which sealed the 5-1 win. Just over a minute after Tremblay's goal, Bongo rebounded a Cole Galata attempt from the opposite dot, sending a rocket by the screened goalie. 

On the other side of the ice, Teagan Kendrick played the second half of the game, finishing with 10 saves. Spicer ended the night with 11 stops in his 29:09.

Notes:

• The Pioneers played the Red Leafs each of the last two seasons, winning by a 12-4 combined score.
• Barnes owns one career regular-season hat trick, doing so with AIC against Robert Morris on Nov. 30, 2024. 
• Hillier, Kendrick, Spicer, David Brandes and Noah Van Vliet all hit the ice for the first time for the Pios. 

Up Next:
The Pioneers hit the road on Friday, Oct. 10, for a 7 p.m. matchup against Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) foe RIT at the Gene Polisseni Center in Rochester, N.Y.