Men's Ice Hockey Heads to Army for Final Regular Season Series

Friday, February 27

West Point, N.Y. / Tate Rink

7:00 PM

Sacred Heart University Department of Athletics

Army

Photo by: Kaitlyn Wilson

Men's Ice Hockey Heads to Army for Final Regular Season Series

2/26/2026 11:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

Game Notes

SHU and Army open the series at 7 p.m. on Friday

By: Josh Smith

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team heads to Army this weekend for its final series of the 2025-26 regular season. SHU opens the series on Friday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m. before wrapping up the two-game set the following day at 4 p.m.

Sacred Heart vs Army
Friday, Feb. 27 – 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 28 – 4:00 p.m.
Tate Rink – West Point, N.Y.
LIVE on FloHockey

AHA CHECK IN
Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, we have some more clarity on the AHA standings going into the playoffs. The Pioneers are currently tied with RIT for second in the league and hold the tiebreaker over the Tigers by virtue of their weekend sweep to open the season. With two games left, SHU can finish as high as second place and as low as fifth. The Pios have the tiebreaker over RIT, Robert Morris, Holy Cross and Canisius, who all rank just behind them. If SHU can come away with at least three points this weekend, the team would clinch a top-three seed. The only things set in stone as of now are that Bentley will be the No. 1 seed and Mercyhurst will be the No. 10.

WEEKLY HONORS
After playing key roles in SHU's sweep of Holy Cross this past weekend, seniors Reid Pabich and Mikey Adamson earned Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) weekly awards. Pabich was named the Forward of the Week, while Adamson was the Defenseman of the Week. The award is a first for Pabich, while Adamson is a four-time winner, though he had not won it yet this season. Pabich led the team with four goals and six points on the weekend. Adamson finished with four assists, having a hand in both eventual game-winners.

LAST TIME OUT
The Pioneers picked up a critical sweep of Holy Cross this past weekend, defeating the Crusaders 5-1 on Friday and 5-2 on Saturday. SHU struck first in the opener, with Jake Bongo lighting the lamp at 5:42 in the game on his first goal of the season. After Holy Cross tied the score, three straight power-play goals swung the momentum to SHU. Gavin Bryant scored midway through the first, Pabich was next, midway through the second, while Noah Ellis potted his power play strike 3:15 into the third. Ethan Wolthers capped the win with a goal in the final minutes to make it 5-1.

Game two started differently, as the Crusaders led 2-0 after the first. Needing some energy, SHU found it with a power play goal by Pabich 7:43 into the second. Paul Minnehan and Felix Trudeau also scored in the next 1:15 to swing the lead to the Pios, 3-2. Pabich continued his incredible weekend with two goals in the third period to ice the win and his first collegiate hat trick.

Ajeet Gundarah got the win in both games, making 22 and 33 saves, respectively. The wins were Gundarah's first since November, after he had missed an extended period due to an injury.

SCOUTING THE BLACK KNIGHTS
Army sits in eighth in the AHA standings heading into the weekend with 28 league points (7-13-4). Overall, the Black Knights are 12-14-6, taking a win and a tie at Air Force last weekend. Army is a physical team that ranks 18th in the country with 11.72 penalty minutes per game. Despite all of that time in the box, the Black Knights have maintained a stellar penalty kill percentage, ranking 19th nationally at 82.2%.

At the forefront of Army's defensive success is sophomore goaltender JJ Cataldo. The Stuart, Fla., native ranks ninth in the country with a .925 save percentage. He is 11-13-5 on the season with a 2.34 goals against average. Offensively, Ben Ivey (24), Nils Forselius (24), Jack Ivey (23) and Barron Woodring (23) lead the team in points. Woodring is also one of the best faceoff men in the country, ranking fifth with 371 wins in the circle this season.

ALL-TIME SERIES
The Pios and Black Knights will meet for the 94th time in the two teams' histories on Friday. Army holds a 41-36-16 record against SHU after taking a win and a tie in this season's series at Sacred Heart in December. The Pioneers eye their first win at Tate Rink since 2020, as Army is 29-12-7 at home against SHU.

UP NEXT
The Pioneers will begin play in the AHA Tournament, beginning with a three-game quarterfinal on Friday-Sunday, March 6-8. SHU is playing for the right to host a quarterfinal series as a top-four seed. If the Pios take fifth, they will head to the No. 4 seed.