The 2023–24 Sacred Heart Pioneers men's ice hockey season was the 31st season of play for the program, the 26th at the Division I level and the 21st in Atlantic Hockey. The Pioneers represented Sacred Heart University, played their home games at the Martire Family Arena and were coached by C. J. Marottolo in his 15th season.
Season With a sizable amount of roster turnover, including three of its top four goal-scorers, Sacred Heart had many unanswered questions entering the season. The team was expecting to use Chase Clark as its starting goaltender, but the Quinnipiac transfer had a tough time getting to his game. The Pioneers began poorly, losing four of their first five matches but the team appeared to have sorted itself out by the end of October. Over several weeks, the team went 6–1, not allowing more than two goals in any of its games. The offense, too, got off to a slow start but then picked up the pace in the second month of the season. The line of Walsh–Joughin–Lombardi proved to be the most successful with those three finishing in the top four for team scoring.
In spite of their winning record, Sacred Heart was unable to find any success in their non-conference schedule. Though they had a weak slate of opponents, the Pioneers could not get a single win in eight games, only managing one tie to Princeton. That mark made it impossible for SHU to make the NCAA tournament without a conference title. However, the team was still able to perform well in Atlantic Hockey. Though they had a poor second half, winning just 5 of 17 games after January 1, Sacred Heart managed to finish third in the conference. The struggles began with shaky play from Clark, who was replaced as the starter by Justin Robbins. While Robbins' numbers were only marginally better than Clark's, the graduate netminder played more consistently in the latter half of the year. The offense slowed down as the season went on and the Pioneers could only manage three goals in three of the final thirteen games to end the regular season.
Though they had backed into a quarterfinal bye, Sacred Heart was hoping to use home ice to their advantage and make a run in the conference tournament. However, despite getting a week-long break to resolve their troubles, SHU saw both of its main problems recur against Niagara. The team got a two-goal lead in the opening match but could only watch as the Purple Eagles swiftly erased the advantage. Niagara scored four goals in under nine minutes of game time, including three in a 43-second span, to take hold of the match. SHU opened the scoring in the second game as well but was not able to get a second marker in the final 59 minutes despite outshooting NU nearly two to one. Robbins was in net for both games and allowed 9 goals on 53 shots (both matches had empty-net goals), ending the Pioneers' season on a low note.
Departures Logan Britt Defenseman Graduate transfer to North Dakota Tim Clifton Forward Graduation (retired) Patrick Dawson Defenseman Graduate transfer to Northeastern Todd Goehring Forward Graduation (signed with Atlanta Gladiators) Cody Hoban Forward Left program (retired) Julian Kislin Defenseman Graduation (signed with South Carolina Stingrays) Luke Lush Goaltender Graduate transfer to RIT Austin Magera Forward Graduation (signed with South Carolina Stingrays) Brandon Milberg Goaltender Left program (retired) Neil Shea Forward Graduation (signed with Chicago Wolves) Ryan Steele Forward Graduation (signed with South Carolina Stingrays) Jeppe Urup Mogensen Defenseman Graduate transfer to Northern Michigan
Recruiting Mikey Adamson Defenseman 22 Quincy, MA; transfer from Massachusetts Jake Bongo Forward 20 Ridgefield, CT Mark Cheremeta Forward 21 Minsk, BLR; transfer from Ohio State Chase Clark Goaltender 21 Williamsville, NY; transfer from Quinnipiac; selected 183rd overall in 2021 Blake Dangos Defenseman 21 St. Louis, MO; transfer from Arizona State Cullen DeYoung Goaltender 21 Canton, MI Brendan Dumas Forward 21 North Attleborough, MA Cole Galata Forward 21 Barrie, ON Rylee Hlusiak Forward 21 Barrie, ON Liam Izyk Forward 24 Blackie, AB; transfer from Boston College Tyler Spott Defenseman 23 Toronto, ON; graduate transfer from Northeastern Garrett Sundquist Defenseman 22 South Glastonbury, CT; transfer from Providence T. J. Walsh Forward 23 Shrewsbury, MA; graduate transfer from Rensselaer
Roster As of September 15, 2023
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular season
!colspan=12 ! style=""; |
!colspan=12 style=";" |
Scoring statistics LW 36 13 13 26 6 F 35 10 16 26 14 RW 36 11 14 25 19 F 34 8 13 21 16 D 34 4 16 20 12 F 33 6 11 17 6 D 36 5 10 15 37 D 35 2 11 13 32 LW 31 9 3 12 19 LW 17 1 10 11 6 D 36 5 5 10 14 F 36 3 7 10 4 F 34 4 4 8 33 C 23 2 4 6 4 D 14 1 4 5 2 D 27 1 4 5 16 D 19 1 3 4 16 D 34 0 3 3 11 F 12 2 0 2 18 RW 28 2 0 2 6 F 20 0 2 2 4 RW 25 0 2 2 10 F 35 0 2 2 16 D 9 1 0 1 2 G 19 0 1 1 0 C 2 0 0 0 2 G 3 0 0 0 0 G 17 0 0 0 0 Total 91 158 249 325 Source:
Goaltending statistics 3 104:01 0 0 1 3 50 0 .943 1.73 17 956:20 6 9 1 47 401 0 .895 2.95 19 1090:20 8 10 1 55 482 0 .898 3.03 Empty Net - 32:07 - - - 8 - - - - Total 36 2182:48 14 19 3 113 933 0 .892 3.11
Rankings
PollWeekPre 1 234567891011121314151617181920212223242526 (Final) USCHO.comNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NR USA HockeyNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 11 and 25.Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.
Awards and honors Braeden Tuck Atlantic Hockey Individual Sportsmanship Award Sacred Heart Pioneers Atlantic Hockey Team Sportsmanship Award John Jaworski Atlantic Hockey Third Team
References