Friday, March 13
Fairfield, Conn.
7:00 PM
Sacred Heart
22-12-3
5
vs
1
Robert Morris
15-20-3
1st period1
2nd period2
3rd period3
FinalF
Robert Morris
1
0
0
1
Sacred Heart
0
3
2
5
Photo by: Josh Gee
Men’s Ice Hockey Fires Past Robert Morris, 5-1, in AHA Semifinal Opener
3/13/2026 10:53:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
SHU set a new program record in wins with its 22nd victory tonight
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The second-seeded Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team used a second-period surge to storm past No. 3 Robert Morris 5-1 in game one of the Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) semifinals at the Martire Family Arena on Friday evening.
Records:
SHU: 22-12-3
Robert Morris: 15-20-3
How It Happened
The Colonials took the lead in the first, scoring at 7:08 to go up 1-0. SHU led in shots 13-8 but went into the intermission trailing.
Sacred Heart did not trail long in the second period, as Marcus Joughin scored the first of three goals in the frame 37 seconds into the period. Aiden VanRooyan started the play with a shot from the high slot, while Reid Pabich knocked it down and sent it to Joughin for the goal to tie it at 1-1.
Just 1:04 later, Noah Ellis gave SHU a 2-1 advantage with a rocket from the blue line. Felix Trudeau sent the pass to Ellis at the line, as he fired the puck past the goal on his glove side for the eventual game-winner.
The last third period goal came from Jack Hillier, as he scored a beauty for his first collegiate tally. Hillier deked the goaltender multiple times before sneaking a puck stick side to make it 3-1.
SHU added two more goals in the third to ice the victory. Vitaly Levyys scored first, his third straight game with a goal, while Reid Pabich capped the night at 9:22. Pabich's goal tied a career-high for the senior, as he has scored 13 goals in back-to-back seasons.
Ajeet Gundarah made 23 saves to pick up the victory. Gundarah has won six straight games and has not allowed more than two goals in any of those contests.
Notes
Post game quotes
"I just like to thank all the students who came out," said C.J. Marottolo talking about the home crowd tonight. "I thought the crowd was awesome tonight. Really gave our players a big jump tonight. So, it's great when they're there. The band's there, the student body is there. Our guy's love playing in front of our student body, so I want to thank them."
"As of late, we've all kind of come together, and I feel like every game, we just kept building confidence," said Reid Pabich. "We just kept building after that and kept everything simple, and there's no like special potion to it, we just kept building off of each game."
Up Next
Sacred Heart will be back at Martire Family Arena for game two of the semifinals tomorrow at 5 p.m.
Records:
SHU: 22-12-3
Robert Morris: 15-20-3
How It Happened
The Colonials took the lead in the first, scoring at 7:08 to go up 1-0. SHU led in shots 13-8 but went into the intermission trailing.
Sacred Heart did not trail long in the second period, as Marcus Joughin scored the first of three goals in the frame 37 seconds into the period. Aiden VanRooyan started the play with a shot from the high slot, while Reid Pabich knocked it down and sent it to Joughin for the goal to tie it at 1-1.
Just 1:04 later, Noah Ellis gave SHU a 2-1 advantage with a rocket from the blue line. Felix Trudeau sent the pass to Ellis at the line, as he fired the puck past the goal on his glove side for the eventual game-winner.
The last third period goal came from Jack Hillier, as he scored a beauty for his first collegiate tally. Hillier deked the goaltender multiple times before sneaking a puck stick side to make it 3-1.
SHU added two more goals in the third to ice the victory. Vitaly Levyys scored first, his third straight game with a goal, while Reid Pabich capped the night at 9:22. Pabich's goal tied a career-high for the senior, as he has scored 13 goals in back-to-back seasons.
Ajeet Gundarah made 23 saves to pick up the victory. Gundarah has won six straight games and has not allowed more than two goals in any of those contests.
Notes
- The Pioneers set a new program with 22 wins in 2025-26.
- SHU has won seven games in a row.
- The Pios scored 5+ goal in nine games.
- Pabich tied a career high with his 13th goal tonight.
- Levyy scored in his third straight game.
- Ellis netted his first game winner of the year.
- Hillier scored his first collegiate goal.
- Joughin scored his sixth goal of the season and is up to 96 points in his career.
- Trudeau is up to 95 points in his collegiate career.
Post game quotes
"I just like to thank all the students who came out," said C.J. Marottolo talking about the home crowd tonight. "I thought the crowd was awesome tonight. Really gave our players a big jump tonight. So, it's great when they're there. The band's there, the student body is there. Our guy's love playing in front of our student body, so I want to thank them."
"As of late, we've all kind of come together, and I feel like every game, we just kept building confidence," said Reid Pabich. "We just kept building after that and kept everything simple, and there's no like special potion to it, we just kept building off of each game."
Up Next
Sacred Heart will be back at Martire Family Arena for game two of the semifinals tomorrow at 5 p.m.
Team Stats
RMU
SHU
Shots
24
35
PPG
0
0
SHG
0
0
Penalties
3
1
Penalty Mins
17
2
Faceoffs Won
23
27
Game Leaders
+/-
3
Goals
1
Sh
4
A
1
+/-
3
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
1
+/-
2
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
1
+/-
1
Goals
0
Sh
4
A
2
Players Mentioned
D
/ Men's Ice Hockey
G
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice HockeyF
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice HockeyF
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice HockeyD
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