SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Sacred Heart Men's Hockey Team has clinched a home playoff series for March 7-9.
The Pioneers, who already clinched a bye in the first round of the Atlantic Hockey America tournament, got a goal from captain John Jaworski with 1:25 left in the third period to beat a feisty AIC team 3-2 at the MassMutual Center.
Jaworski's 10th of the season completed a back-and-forth affair in the Pios' second to last game of the regular season. The three points allowed SHU to reach 50 and leap over second-place Bentley, just three points away from Holy Cross, with one game left. "It's a big win, points aren't easy to come by nowadays so every point matters." said Jaworski
Sacred Heart freshman goalie Ajeet Gundarah, who had a dozen saves in each period, stopped 36 of 38 shots to earn the win.
Both sides had quality scoring chances in a scoreless first period that included AIC outshooting the visitors 12-8. Brett Rylance skated in alone on Gundarah with 6:50 left and tried to go to the stick side, but the Pio goalie was ready with his right pad. Less than a minute later, Mikey Adamson and Jeremi Tremblay had no Yellowjacket defenders between them and netminder Peyton Grainer, but Adamson's pass could not be directed on target.
After killing off a penalty that carried into the second frame, SHU increased the pressure on the home net and cashed in on a rebound. Jaworski grabbed the puck behind the AIC net and skated to the corner before throwing a pass to the low slot. Reid Pabich flicked a shot off the goalie pads to Felix Trudeau, who was standing a few feet from the crease and put it five-hole, for his team-best 15th tally of the year.
It looked like the Pios would take the lead into the second intermission until they lost their cool when they saw an AIC player give Gundarah a snow bath after closing his glove on a puck. That resulted in a five-minute advantage, on Tremblay's game misconduct, and the equalizer, but the rookie goalie nearly pulled off the long penalty kill with four great saves.
SHU grabbed the lead again 7:47 into the third after some nifty stick handling by freshman Aiden VanRooyan, who carried the puck around the net and found fellow blueliner Hunter Sansbury open in the right circle. Sansbury threw a shot off the goalie and Charles Tardif followed up with another rebound, his second of the season.
Trudeau got called for slashing with 4:20 left. AIC called timeout with 30 seconds left in the advantage and pulled its goalie. The guys in the red sweaters killed off the penalty, but the Yellowjackets managed to find the net shortly after. The puck clearly bounced off an AIC skate before entering the net, and the referee waived off the goal. However, after looking over a replay, the officials changed their mind and called it a goal with 2:03 left. SHU head coach CJ Marottolo then unsuccessfully challenged the verdict for goaltender interference.
Jaworski's crucial tally came 36 seconds later after he skated over the AIC blueline, circled in low and came back out to the top of the right circle. That's when the graduate center, who had his second straight two-point night, had his pass blocked by a defender. He grabbed it back and flicked a wrist shot off Grainer's glove and into the back of the net. "We were coming through the neutral zone, Trudeau gave me a nice pass, I cut back and tried to hit Pabich. I put it on net and it was lucky enough to go in," said Jaworski on his game-winning goal.
