Atlantic Hockey What To Watch: Sacred Heart Tied Atop Conference Standings
Atlantic Hockey What To Watch: Sacred Heart Tied Atop Conference Standings
Sacred Heart recently enjoyed a five-game win streak and the Pioneers head into their final first-half series tied atop the AHA standings
As seven of the 11 AHA schools prepare for their final games before the Christmas break, the standings are starting to take shape.
There’s plenty of hockey left and a lot can change between now and late February. However, a pair of teams are gridlocked at the top, as Bentley and Sacred Heart are currently tied with 24 points – although Bentley has played three fewer games.
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Yet the focus this week is on the Pioneers, a team that went 14-19-3 last season and has finished with a sub-.500 record in three of the last four years. The one exception, 2022-23, SHU ended the year at exactly .500 (17-17-3).
Sacred Heart is currently 8-7-2 and 7-5-1 in conference play, and the Pioneers were red-hot to open November before hitting a three-game win-less skid. SHU skated to a 3-3 tie against RIT on Nov. 23 and was swept at Holy Cross last weekend before handing Army a 4-0 loss on Tuesday.
Four different Pioneers – Mikey Adamson, Matthew Guerra, Marcus Joughin and Felix Trudeau – found the back of the net and Ajeet Gundarah turned in a 24-save shutout, the first of his collegiate career.
First career shutout for Ajeet, four goals, and a Tuesday night win!#WeAreSHU pic.twitter.com/GPRnSruxVJ
— SHU Hockey (@SHUHockey) December 4, 2024
The Pioneers have actually allowed the third most goals in AHA play (37), but 10 of those 37 came at Holy Cross. SHU out-scored its opponents 33-27 over its first 10 conference games, including a 21-11 mark over a five-game November win streak.
Senior Hunter Sansbury was named the league’s November Defenseman of the Month as he picked up nine points (3-6-9) over 10 games, including six (3-3-6) during that five-game heater. The captain also blocked 18 shots and was a plus-4.
Sansbury leads AHA with 40 blocked shots this season and SHU ranks fourth among AHA teams with 215 through its 17 games. Gundarah has done his part between the pipes too, as the freshman is currently 6-2-1 with a .911 save percentage and 2.35 GAA.
CJ Marottolo’s club will head to Canisius this weekend and will look to finish the first half strong.
Atlantic Happenings
- Army goaltender JJ Cataldo made 25 saves in the loss to Sacred Heart and has now dropped three straight after a spectacular four-game stretch to open November.
- Canisius and RIT also squared off Tuesday night with the Golden Griffins skating to a 6-4 win. Senior forward Alton McDermott scored twice in the win while freshman Ben Bonisteel earned his first NCAA win with 29 saves.
- Holy Cross forward Liam McLinskey currently owns a seven-game goal streak and has scored eight times in that stretch. McLinskey is tied for the AHA lead with 10 goals and leads the league with four power-play goals.
- Bentley fell to Northeastern last Sunday, 3-1, which snapped a four-game win streak. The Falcons have still won eight of their last 10 and were the lone AHA school to receive votes (15) in this week’s USCHO poll. Bentley heads to Mercyhurst this weekend to close out the first half.
- Bentley also owns the league’s top and nation’s fourth-best faceoff win percentage at .554. The Falcons are 484-390 on the dots as a team.
- Holy Cross is the nation’s most-penalized team with 254 penalty minutes. The Crusaders have been whistled 97 times and averaging 15.9 minutes per game. RIT is also fourth in the NCAA with 225.
Kenny & Tessa took over November with 11 points each 🔥
— Penn State Women’s Hockey (@PennStateWHKY) December 3, 2024
Kendall Butze ➡️ 2 goals 🚨 9 assists 🍎
Tessa Janecke ➡️ 6 goals 🚨 5 assists 🍎 @Atlantic_Hockey #WeAre pic.twitter.com/NzvTZNJYQ4
Women’s Hockey
- Penn State’s Tessa Janecke and Kendall Butze were named November’s AHA Forward and Defenseman of the Month on Tuesday, while Mercyhurst’s Jorden Mattison and Julia Schalin were named the conference’s Goaltender and Rookie of the Month.
- Janecke is currently riding a six-game point streak and had 11 points (6-5-11) in November, including a five-game goal streak. Penn State has the league’s top five point producers and travels to Mercyhurst this weekend.
- Mercyhurst is allowing just 1.94 goals per game this season, which trails only Penn State (1.61). Mattison and fellow Mercyhurst goalie Magdalena Luggin have 1.77 and 1.91 GAA’s respectively.
- RIT sophomore defenseman Emma Pickering has three goals over her last three games and is tied for third in AHA with seven on the season.
- Robert Morris has been out-scored 23-3 this season and is 0-5-1 in conference play.
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