Sacred Heart Pioneers men's ice hockey | |
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University | Sacred Heart University |
Conference | AHA |
Head coach | C. J. Marottolo 16th season, 188–291–55 (.404) |
Assistant coaches |
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Arena | Martire Family Arena Bridgeport, Connecticut |
Colors | Red and white [1] |
The Sacred Heart Pioneers men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Sacred Heart University. The Pioneers are a member of Atlantic Hockey. They play at the Martire Family Arena in Fairfield, Connecticut. [2] From 1993-2016, the Pioneers home arena was the Milford Ice Pavilion in Milford, Connecticut.
Sacred Heart began sponsoring men's ice hockey as a varsity sport in 1993. The team was placed in the South Division of ECAC North/South/Central and because they were not able to schedule all of their ECAC South opponents twice the Pioneers played half a conference schedule in their inaugural year. With a full conference slate the following year, Sacred Heart greatly improved their record which continued in year three.
For the 1996–97 season Shaun Hannah was brought in as head coach and the Pioneers finished with their first winning record and 2nd in the division, narrowly missing the conference postseason.
In the late 1990s the MAAC was mandated to form an ice hockey conference. Two of the ECAC South programs would have to promote themselves to Division I and soon after they were joined by Sacred Heart. With an eye for their new conference, Hannah began offering scholarships to incoming students, a violation of Division III rules, which caused the Pioneers (along with two other ECAC South teams) to be ruled ineligible for any postseason play. Additionally all of their conference games would not be counted in the standings, through they would still be able to play the matches and count the results towards their overall standings.
Despite the influx of scholarship athletes, Sacred Heart finished 7th in the first year of MAAC conference play. The team rebounded in the second year, doubling their win total and finishing with a winning record. Postseason success was a little slower in coming with the Pioneers unable to win a playoff game until year 4 of D-I play. During the 2002–03 season Iona and Fairfield, the two original MAAC programs, both announced that they would end their sponsorship of ice hockey at the end of the season. With only one full-time member still active the MAAC terminated their ice hockey division. The remaining 9 programs banded together and formed Atlantic Hockey which began the following year.
Sacred Heart played well for the first few years of Atlantic Hockey, reaching the championship game in 2004 and 2010 but after Hannah left in 2009, the team took a tumble down the standings. From 2011 through 2018 the Pioneers never finished higher than 8th in the conference. Bench boss C. J. Marottolo was finally able to push the Pioneers out of the basement in 2019 with a 4th-place finish, ending 1 win shy of .500 on the year.
The school announced in 2020 that it would build a $60 million facility for its men's and women's ice hockey programs. [3] After a delayed start, construction began on the Martire Family Arena in March of 2021, with a new scheduled completion date of 2023 and a new price tag of $70 million. Martire Family Arena will be the first on-campus ice arena for Sacred Heart. [4]
As of the completion of 2018–19 season [5]
School | Team | Away Arena | Overall record | Win % | Last Result |
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Air Force Academy | Falcons | Cadet Ice Arena | 12–23–7 | .369 | 2-2 T |
American International College | Yellow Jackets | MassMutual Center | 30–21–7 | .578 | 1-4 L |
Army West Point | Black Knights | Tate Rink | 23–26–10 | .475 | 3-3 T |
Bentley University | Falcons | Bentley Arena | 32–26–6 | .547 | 2-3 L |
Canisius College | Golden Griffins | LECOM Harborcenter | 19–25–8 | .442 | 2-3 L |
College of the Holy Cross | Crusaders | Hart Center | 29–36–5 | .450 | 1-4 L |
Mercyhurst University | Lakers | Mercyhurst Ice Center | 24–27–5 | .473 | 0-3 L |
Niagara University | Purple Eagles | Dwyer Arena | 8–13–2 | .391 | 6-3 W |
Robert Morris University | Colonials | Colonials Arena | 3–23–1 | .130 | 3-1 W |
Rochester Institute of Technology | Tigers | Gene Polisseni Center | 13–27–2 | .333 | 1-3 L |
As of completion of 2023–24 season
Tenure | Coach | Years | Record | Pct. |
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1993–1994 | Pete Downey | 1 | 4–15–0 | .211 |
1994–1996 | John Glynne | 2 | 21–25–2 | .458 |
1996–2009 | Shaun Hannah | 13 | 191–204–38 | .485 |
2009–Present | C. J. Marottolo | 15 | 188–291–55 | .404 |
Totals | 4 coaches | 31 seasons | 404–535–95 | .437 |
Player | Years | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
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Pierre-Luc O'Brien | 2003–2007 | 142 | 67 | 91 | 158 | 141 |
Bear Trapp | 2005–2009 | 139 | 56 | 99 | 155 | 228 |
Martin Paquet | 1999–2003 | 129 | 65 | 77 | 142 | 198 |
Alexandre Parent | 2004–2008 | 143 | 54 | 87 | 141 | 105 |
Dave Jarman | 2006–2010 | 147 | 47 | 87 | 134 | 122 |
Garrett Larson | 2001–2005 | 139 | 55 | 69 | 124 | 233 |
Justin Danforth | 2013–2017 | 147 | 42 | 82 | 124 | 125 |
Eric Delong | 2009–2013 | 143 | 46 | 72 | 118 | 65 |
Matt Gingera | 2008–2012 | 142 | 61 | 48 | 109 | 113 |
Lloyd Marks | 1998–2002 | 120 | 49 | 60 | 109 | 138 |
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
Minimum 30 games
Player | Years | GP | Min | W | L | T | GA | SO | SV% | GAA |
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Josh Benson | 2018–Present | 57 | 3298 | 33 | 17 | 5 | 138 | 5 | .902 | 2.51 |
Eddy Ferhi | 1999–2003 | 88 | 5160 | 36 | 35 | 13 | 126 | 7 | .917 | 2.63 |
Jason Smith | 2003–2007 | 71 | 4291 | 38 | 29 | 4 | 196 | 2 | .912 | 2.74 |
Brett Magnus | 2015–2019 | 109 | 6438 | 39 | 56 | 12 | 314 | 5 | .904 | 2.93 |
Kevin LaPointe | 2001–2005 | 71 | 4162 | 28 | 34 | 7 | 214 | 3 | .902 | 3.08 |
Statistics current through the start of the 2020-21 season.
As of September 15, 2023. [6]
No. | S/P/C | Player | Class | Pos | Height | Weight | DoB | Hometown | Previous team | NHL rights |
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1 | ![]() | Jack O'Dea | Junior | G | 5' 9" (1.75 m) | 148 lb (67 kg) | 2000-09-07 | Brighton, Massachusetts | Bridgton ( USHS–ME ) | — |
3 | ![]() | Grant Anderson | Senior | D | 6' 2" (1.88 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | 1999-09-15 | Plymouth, Minnesota | Omaha ( USHL ) | — |
4 | ![]() | Blake Dangos | Sophomore | D | 5' 10" (1.78 m) | 174 lb (79 kg) | 2002-04-08 | St. Louis, Missouri | Arizona State ( NCAA ) | — |
5 | ![]() | Andrius Kulbis-Marino | Junior | D | 6' 0" (1.83 m) | 184 lb (83 kg) | 2000-02-16 | Methuen, Massachusetts | Maine ( NAHL ) | — |
6 | ![]() | Mikey Adamson | Sophomore | D | 5' 9" (1.75 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | 2001-08-16 | Quincy, Massachusetts | Massachusetts ( HEA ) | — |
7 | ![]() | Garrett Sundquist | Junior | D | 6' 3" (1.91 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | 2001-07-17 | South Glastonbury, Connecticut | Providence ( HEA ) | — |
8 | ![]() | Hunter Sansbury | Junior | D | 5' 11" (1.8 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | 2000-10-08 | Lomita, California | Salmon Arm ( BCHL ) | — |
9 | ![]() | Daniel Ebrahim | Junior | F | 5' 11" (1.8 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | 2000-07-12 | Brooklin, Ontario | Jersey (NCDC) | — |
10 | ![]() | Chikara Hanzawa | Sophomore | F | 5' 6" (1.68 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | 2001-07-12 | Tokyo, Japan | South Shore (NCDC) | — |
11 | ![]() | Tyler Spott | Graduate | D | 5' 11" (1.8 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | 2000-06-17 | Toronto, Ontario | Northeastern ( HEA ) | — |
12 | ![]() | Kevin Lombardi | Graduate | F | 6' 5" (1.96 m) | 230 lb (104 kg) | 1998-08-12 | Schwenksville, Pennsylvania | Sioux City ( USHL ) | — |
13 | ![]() | T. J. Walsh | Graduate | F | 5' 8" (1.73 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | 2000-04-29 | Shrewsbury, Massachusetts | Rensselaer ( ECAC ) | — |
14 | ![]() | Brendan Kennette | Sophomore | D | 6' 2" (1.88 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | 2002-06-09 | Windsor, Ontario | Brooks ( AJHL ) | — |
16 | ![]() | Dylan Robbins | Sophomore | F | 6' 0" (1.83 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | 2001-08-29 | Alpine, New Jersey | Chicago ( USHL ) | — |
17 | ![]() | Aidan Connolly | Sophomore | F | 5' 11" (1.8 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | 2001-10-05 | Marshfield, Massachusetts | Maine ( NAHL ) | — |
18 | ![]() | John Jaworski | Senior | F | 5' 10" (1.78 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | 2000-03-20 | Grinnell, Iowa | Chicago ( USHL ) | — |
19 | ![]() | Jake Bongo | Freshman | F | 5' 10" (1.78 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | 2002-02-04 | Ridgefield, Connecticut | Surrey ( BCHL ) | — |
20 | ![]() | Blake Humphrey | Sophomore | F | 5' 8" (1.73 m) | 162 lb (73 kg) | 2002-01-18 | Syracuse, New York | Sioux Falls ( USHL ) | — |
21 | ![]() | Brendan Dumas | Freshman | F | 5' 10" (1.78 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | 2002-08-28 | North Attleborough, Massachusetts | New Jersey ( NAHL ) | — |
22 | ![]() | Conner Hutchison | Junior | D | 5' 10" (1.78 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | 2000-06-02 | Hicksville, New York | Tri-City ( USHL ) | — |
23 | ![]() | Braeden Tuck | Graduate | F | 6' 1" (1.85 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | 1998-04-15 | Calgary, Alberta | Trail ( BCHL ) | — |
24 | ![]() | Mark Cheremeta | Graduate | F | 5' 11" (1.8 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | 1999-07-12 | Parkland, Florida | Ohio State ( Big Ten ) | — |
25 | ![]() | Dante Fantauzzi | Senior | D | 6' 2" (1.88 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | 2000-05-01 | North York, Ontario | Sioux Falls ( USHL ) | — |
26 | ![]() | Liam Izyk | Graduate | F | 6' 1" (1.85 m) | 187 lb (85 kg) | 1998-12-27 | Blackie, Alberta | Boston College ( HEA ) | — |
27 | ![]() | Cole Galata | Freshman | F | 5' 10" (1.78 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | 2002-03-18 | Barrie, Ontario | Surrey ( BCHL ) | — |
28 | ![]() | Marcus Joughin | Sophomore | F | 5' 11" (1.8 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | 2001-07-05 | Tecumseh, Ontario | West Kelowna ( BCHL ) | — |
29 | ![]() | Rylee Hlusiak | Freshman | F | 5' 10" (1.78 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | 2002-06-03 | Barrie, Ontario | West Kelowna ( BCHL ) | — |
31 | ![]() | Justin Robbins | Graduate | G | 5' 8" (1.73 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | 1999-03-10 | Alpine, New Jersey | Arizona State (NCAA) | — |
32 | ![]() | Chase Clark | Sophomore | G | 6' 6" (1.98 m) | 208 lb (94 kg) | 2002-04-08 | Williamsville, New York | Quinnipiac ( ECAC ) | WSH , 183rd overall 2021 |
33 | ![]() | Cullen DeYoung | Freshman | G | 5' 10" (1.78 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | 2002-02-03 | Canton, Michigan | Northeast ( NAHL ) | — |
AHCA Second Team All-Americans
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| Individual Sportsmanship Award
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First Team All-Atlantic Hockey
Second Team All-Atlantic Hockey
Third Team All-Atlantic Hockey
Atlantic Hockey All-Rookie Team
As of December 26, 2023.
Source: [7] See alsoRelated Research Articles![]() The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Its current 11 full members are located in four Northeastern states: Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Maryland. It was announced on October 23, 2023 that Sacred Heart University and Merrimack College will join the conference beginning in the 2024-25 season. ![]() The Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) is an NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey conference which operates primarily in the northeastern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference. Unlike several other college athletic conferences, Atlantic Hockey has no women's division, though it shares some organizational and administrative roles with the women's-only College Hockey America (CHA). ![]() Total Mortgage Arena is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena in downtown Bridgeport, Connecticut. It is the home venue of the Bridgeport Islanders of the American Hockey League (AHL) and PWHL New York of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). The Fairfield Stags are the athletic programs representing Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut. Most of the programs are members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and classified as Division I (non-football) in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). ![]() The 2001 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament involved 12 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college ice hockey. ![]() The Sacred Heart Pioneers are the 32 sports teams representing Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut in intercollegiate athletics. The Pioneers compete in the NCAA Division I and are members of the Northeast Conference, Atlantic Hockey, Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association, and New England Women's Hockey Alliance. SHU will move from the NEC to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) after the 2023–24 school year. ![]() The Army Black Knights men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents the United States Military Academy. The Black Knights are a member of Atlantic Hockey and play at the Tate Rink in West Point, New York. ![]() The Holy Cross Crusaders men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents the College of the Holy Cross. The Crusaders are a member of the Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA). They play at the Hart Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. ![]() The Quinnipiac Bobcats men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Quinnipiac University. The Bobcats are a member of ECAC Hockey. They play at the M&T Bank Arena in Hamden, Connecticut. ![]() The Princeton Tigers men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Princeton University. The Tigers are a member of ECAC Hockey. They play at the Hobey Baker Memorial Rink in Princeton, New Jersey. In 1999, future NHL player Jeff Halpern scored 22 goals to tie for the most goals in the ECAC and was co-winner of Princeton's Roper Trophy for athletic and academic achievement. In 2010–11, Andrew Calof was ECAC Rookie of the Year. ![]() The Mercyhurst Lakers men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association hockey team that represents Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania under Head Coach Rick Gotkin. The team is currently a Division I hockey team playing out of the Mercyhurst Ice Center located on the school campus. The Mercyhurst Lakers started out as a club sport at the school, moving up to Division III, followed by Division II, and now plays Division I in the Atlantic Hockey Association conference. After joining their step up into Division I in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in 1998, the Lakers have won their conference tournament making NCAA tournament appearances in 2001, 2003, and 2005. The UConn Huskies men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents the University of Connecticut. The Huskies are a member of the Hockey East conference. The Huskies play in the on-campus Toscano Family Ice Forum, having moved from the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut during the 2022–23 season. ![]() The Canisius Golden Griffins men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Canisius College. The Golden Griffins are a member of Atlantic Hockey. They play at the LECOM Harborcenter in Buffalo, New York across the street from KeyBank Center, home of the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League. Canisius has won an automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament twice, after winning the Atlantic Hockey title in the conference playoffs in both 2013 and 2023, but lost in the first round to the top-ranked team each time. ![]() The American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents the American International College. The Yellow Jackets are a member of Atlantic Hockey. They play at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts. The 1998–99 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season began on October 3, 1998, and concluded with the 1999 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament's championship game on April 3, 1999, at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim in Anaheim, California. This was the 52nd season in which an NCAA ice hockey championship was held and is the 105th year overall where an NCAA school fielded a team. The 2004 Atlantic Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the inaugural Atlantic Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. It was played between March 12 and March 20, 2004. All games were played at the Tate Rink in West Point, New York, the home venue of the Army Black Knights. By winning the tournament, Holy Cross received the Atlantic Hockey Association's automatic bid to the 2004 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, the first appearance in team history. Shaun Hannah is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former player. He is currently director and coach of the Yale University 8-U and learn-to-skate programs. Previously he was the head coach for Sacred Heart during their transition from Division III to Division I and the shift from the MAAC to Atlantic Hockey. ![]() Justin Danforth is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who can also play as a winger. He currently plays for the Columbus Blue Jackets in the National Hockey League (NHL). He won the ECHL Rookie of the Year in 2018 with the Cincinnati Cyclones. The 1997–98 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey season began in October 1997 and concluded on March 21 of the following year. This was the 25th season of Division III college ice hockey. ![]() The 2022–23 Sacred Heart Pioneers men's ice hockey season was the 30th season of play for the program, the 25th at the Division I level, and the 20th in the Atlantic Hockey conference. The Pioneers represented Sacred Heart University and were coached by C. J. Marottolo, in his 14th season. References
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