WATERTOWN, Conn. – Senior goaltender Andrew Bodnarchuk (Saskatoon, Sask.) stopped all 29 shots he faced Friday night as the Sacred Heart men's hockey team defeated the UConn Huskies Friday night 2-0 at The Taft School.

UConn (2-5-3) had four shots in the first two minutes, but Andrew Bodnarchuk (Saskatoon, Sask.) stood tall in goal and stopped each shot. Sacred Heart (4-5-2) got on the scoresheet at 3:24 of the period, when Ben Lake (Calgary, Alb.) fed a pass to Drew George (Regina, Sask.) from behind the Huskies' net. George one-timed the pass from right in front of the net to give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead. Sacred Heart held UConn to two shots on its first power play 22 seconds after the George goal. The Pioneers went on the power play with 12:06 to play in the period, but were also held without a shot.  George nearly made the score 2-0 with 3:39 left in the first, going one-on-one with UConn goaltender Rob Nichols. Nichols stopped George's shot with his pads to keep the deficit at one heading into intermission.

After killing a penalty early in the second period, Sacred Heart went on the offensive. The Pioneers had four shots in the span of less than two minutes, but Nichols made the necessary saves to keep the game 1-0. Zach Sabatini (Johns Creek, Ga.) had Sacred Heart's best chance to score of those four shots, forcing Nichols to stop a shot on a two-on-one rush with 14:33 to play in the period. The Huskies went on the power play with 11:58 to go in the second. Patrick Kirtland nearly tied the game with four seconds left on the man advantage, forcing Bodnarchuk to make a sliding save to keep UConn scoreless. Sacred Heart outshot the Huskies 10-8 in the middle period, but neither team scored as the Pioneers took a 1-0 lead into the third.

Sacred Heart went on the power play with 14:26 to play in the third. David Iacono (Newmarket, Ont.) and Alec Butcher (Anchorage, Alaska) each had shots on the power play, but the Pioneers couldn't extend the lead. The Huskies had their best chance to tie the game with 8:08 to play when Ryan Tyson fired a point blank shot that Bodnarchuk got in front of. Sacred Heart put the game out of reach with 0:42 left when Zach Luczyk scored an empty-net goal to make the final score 2-0.

Each team had 29 shots in the game. It was Sacred Heart's second shutout of UConn in the last four meetings. Neither team scored on the power play, with the Pioneers going 0-for-3 and UConn going 0-for-4.

The game was played as a benefit for Jason Pagni, who died suddenly on Jan. 31 at the age of 43. Pagni was a major fixture in Connecticut hockey circles. After graduating from The Avon Old Farms School in 1989, he later devoted his life to hockey in Connecticut.  Pagni was dedicated to advocating, developing and touching the lives of numerous parents and players on all levels of the sport from youth hockey, high school, prep school, college and the National Hockey League.

Sacred Heart returns to action Nov. 21-22 for a weekend series at RIT.