FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team will begin the sixth Connecticut Ice Tournament on Friday, Jan. 23, with a 4 p.m. tilt against No. 6/7 Quinnipiac at Yale's Ingalls Rink in New Haven, Conn.

2026 Connecticut Ice Tournament 
    Friday, Jan. 23 vs. #6/7 Quinnipiac – 4:00 p.m.
    Saturday, Jan. 24 vs. Yale or #13 UConn – 4 or 7:30 PM
Ingalls Rink – New Haven, Conn.
LIVE on ESPN+ & SNY

CT ICE HISTORY
SHU heads into the fifth running of the CT Ice Tournament on Friday, sitting at 5-5-0 in 10 contests. The Pioneers won the inaugural event in 2019-20, defeating Yale first, 6-2, before besting No. 17 Quinnipiac by a 4-1 final in the championship game at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Conn. Sacred Heart was also impressive in last year's tournament, the first held at the Martire Family Arena. The Pios handed Yale an 8-2 loss in the opener before suffering a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat to No. 13/12 UConn in the final.

COMEBACK KIDS
The Pioneers showed no quit in this past weekend's series against Bentley, overcoming two third-period deficits to earn a win and a tie. SHU is no stranger to putting together late comebacks, as the team has three wins and three ties when trailing at any point in the third. The Pios have comeback victories over No. 14/15 Ohio State and the AHA-leading Falcons.

LAST TIME OUT
Sacred Heart claimed four conference points in a weekend series against Bentley, winning the first game and tying the second. With the impressive showing, the Pios climbed into second place in the league standings with 30 points (9-4-3).
In game one, SHU came out strong, scoring first on a Noah Ellis goal with 1:09 remaining in the first period. The Falcons answered with a goal just before the end of the frame and the lone goal of the second to take a 2-1 advantage into the third. The Pioneers were ready with an answer. Felix Trudeau scored to tie it at 2-2 at 13:56 before John Driscoll netted the game-winner 4:03 later.
Bentley jumped out to a 3-0 lead in game two, but SHU responded with second-period goals from Ray Fust, Marcus Joughin, and Stephane Huard to tie it. After trading goals in the third, Trudeau's power-play tally forced overtime. Bentley claimed the extra point with a shootout win.

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
The No. 6/7 Bobcats have been one of the best teams in the country to start the season, sitting at 18-4-2 overall. QU rides a six-game win streak into Friday's opener, which includes wins over No. 9 Dartmouth, No. 13 Cornell and No. 18 Harvard. Quinnipiac leads the ECAC Hockey standings with a 10-2-0 record. All four of the Bobcats' losses this season have come away from Hamden, as the team is 7-4-1 in away or neutral-site games while going 10-0-2 at M&T Bank Arena.
Unsurprisingly, Quinnipiac has found success all over the ice, as the team ranks second in the country in scoring offense (4.08 goals per game) and seventh in scoring defense (2.25 goals allowed per game). Leading the offense is freshman Ethan Wyttenbach with 33 points and 20 assists. He sits fifth in the country in points per game (1.38) and 13th in assists per game (0.83). On the other end of the ice, junior goaltender Matej Marinov is 13-2-2 this season with a .896 save percentage and a 2.41 goals-against average.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Former conference foes SHU and QU will meet for the 40th time on Friday. The Bobcats own a 27-8-4 lead in the all-time series, winning four straight games. Of those four wins, two came in overtime. SHU last defeated QU on Jan. 26, 2020, in the championship game of the inaugural CT Ice Tournament.

UP NEXT
The Pioneers next head on their final long road trip of the regular season, playing at Air Force on Friday–Saturday, Jan. 30–31. The first game of the series is slated to start at 9:05 p.m. ET.