Box Score WATERTOWN, Mass. – For the first time this season, the Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team recorded a win away from home with a 6-3 win at Atlantic Hockey opponent Bentley, Friday night. The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Pioneers as they improved to 4-18-5 overall and 4-11-5 in the AHA, while the Falcons fell to 7-14-5 and 6-10-4.
Sophomore Joe Campanelli netted a quick goal 2:31 into the first period to give Bentley an early 1-0 edge. SHU responded shortly after when junior Matt Gingera (Winnipeg, Man.) notched his team-leading 10th of the season 54 seconds later. Senior captain Patrick Knowlton (Colorado Springs, Colo.) assisted on the score.
The Pioneers took a pair of penalties just 20 seconds apart to give the Falcons a five on three. Bentley took advantage at the 17:01 mark with a power play goal by junior defenseman Mike Switzer.
On a Sacred Heart power play, senior Erik Peterson broke free out of the Bentley defensive zone all alone and junior Ryan Kayfes found him for a breakaway opportunity. Peterson, one on one with senior goalie Oliver St. Onge (Wickham, Que.), lifted a wrist shot over St. Onge's stick for the third goal of the night for the Falcons.
SHU got the offense going as sophomore Eric Delong (Oakville, Man.) skated up the right wing and fed the puck to the goal mouth where senior David Berube (Quebec, Que.) buried his seventh goal of the season. Junior Anthony Yelovich (Little Falls, N.J.) knocked in the game-tying goal with a slapshot, off a feed from sophomore Kyle Verbeek (Bloomfield, Minn.).
The Pioneers took the lead 57 seconds later, on the power play, when sophomore defenseman Alex Stuart (Sauk Rapids, Minn.) held the puck in the zone and fired a shot toward the net that was deflected into the cage by classmate Ben Ketchum (Greenwich, Conn.).
In the final minutes of the third, Ketchum stole the puck in the offensive zone and flipped a backhanded shot into the net to push the SHU lead to 5-3. Sacred Heart added one more as Delong tallied his first, assisted by Gingera.
St. Onge made 31 saves on the night as, while freshman starter Branden Komm stopped 11 shots and senior Joe Calvi stopped 12. Bentley outshot Sacred Heart 34-29 for the game.
The Pioneers and Falcons face-off again tomorrow afternoon at the Arena at Harbor Yard at 3:30 pm.
