March 13, 2004

Final Stats

WEST POINT, NY - The Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team advanced to the semifinals of the Atlantic Hockey Tournament after defeating Connecticut 3-0 in the quarterfinal round. Junior Kevin LaPointe stopped all 26 shots he faced in recording his second shutout of the season.

Sophomore Peter Giatrelis opened the scoring at 4:19 of the first period as he tipped home his eighth goal of the season on the power play. Freshman Pierre-Luc O'Brien took the initial shot that was deflected to O'Brien by sophomore Andrew Billinghurst.

Giatrelis had a chance for a second goal in the opening period as he maneuvered around Connecticut goaltender Scott Tomes off a face-off to the left of the freshman goalie. He was checked on the play and pushed the puck just wide of the open net.

The Huskies had an opportunity of their own to tie the game as Trevor Stewart fired a shot that hit the far post and deflected out of harms way.

Sacred Heart's 1-0 lead carried over through the second period as the two teams exchanged scoring chances, but were unable to make a dent on the scoreboard.

Giatrelis had another bid at his second goal of the game as he got the shot past Tomes, but the puck came to rest on the post, never crossing the goal line.

Connecticut's had a two-on-one break at the six-minute mark of the middle frame and J.R. Corkery found himself with the puck in front of LaPointe who covered the bottom half of the net and made a right pad save.

The Huskies rushed into the Pioneers zone midway through the third period and looked to tie the game on a Jarrett Scarpaci slap shot, but UConn couldn't catch a break on the play as the puck ricocheted of the post and into the far corner.

The Pioneers were able to extend their lead to 2-0 shortly after as Billinghurst knocked home a rebound off a shot from sophomore Chris Connerty. Connerty and sophomore Bernie Chmiel were credited with assists on the play.

Junior Garrett Larson added an empty net goal at 18:17 to give SHU the 3-0 win with the lone assist going to sophomore Rocco Molinaro.

The Pioneers out shot the Huskies 29-26 in the game, went one-for-two on the power play and successfully killed each of their four shorthanded situations.

Sacred Heart will return to action tomorrow in the semifinals. The opponent and game time will be announced at the conclusion of the quarterfinal round tonight.