HAMDEN, Conn. – It was a game which alternated sleepy stretches with bursts of action on Saturday afternoon, as the Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team squared off with Yale in the third-place game of the CT Ice tournament, hosted by Quinnipiac. The Pios used three goals in a span of 3:35 on either side of the second intermission to build a 4-1 lead, and then held on down the stretch for a 4-3 victory. Hunter Sansbury (Lomita, Calif.) had a goal and an assist and blocked four shots, while Brandon Milberg (Thornhill, Ontario) made his first collegiate start and stopped 26 shots to win.
Both teams struck in the first 11 minutes of the first period, and then the game went quiet for an extended stretch. SHU (13-10-2) controlled the run of play through much of the second period, in which the Pios ran up an 18-3 advantage in shots, but struggled to generate quality chances through the bulk of the frame.
Things changed in a hurry near the end of the stanza. SHU went to the power play at 18:03, and needed just 34 seconds to convert. Marcus Joughin (Tecumseh, Ontario) put the puck towards the net from the left circle, and Ryan Steele (Stratford, Prince Edward Island) redirected it home near the left post for his ninth of the year, at 18:37.
The red and white would strike again before the period was out, this time on a 3-on-1 rush, at 19:32. Neil Shea (Marshfield, Mass.) led the rush on the right side, put a shot on net looking for a rebound, and a rebound was exactly what he got. It was a juicy one, right back into the slot, and Austin Magera (Suwanee, Ga.) followed up to bang home his fourth of the season.
The Pios came out of the locker room and pushed the lead to 4-1 just 2:12 into the third period. Sansbury took the puck for a wander down the boards form the right point and fired a rocket up under the crossbar for his fourth of the campaign.
Yale (3-14-4) had a quick answer, just 47 seconds later. Amid a scramble out front, the puck squirted free into the high slot for Ryan Carmichael, who fired home his first of the year.
The game went quiet again from there, but the Bulldogs made things interesting down the stretch. Amid another scramble out front, David Chen got just enough on the puck to poke it past Milberg for his fifth of the season at 11:33.
In the closing minutes, SHU did a good job of preventing Yale from getting the goaltender to the bench, and Nathan Reid was only able to skate off for the extra attacker in the final 30 seconds. Milberg (2-0-0) made the last of his 26 saves, and covered up, which prompted the Bulldogs to call their timeout with 9.9 seconds to play. The Elis won the ensuing draw, but Shea blocked the final shot attempt of the game in the high slot, as the Pios secured their second straight third-place finish at CT Ice.
Reid (1-7-0) finished with 35 saves, as SHU posted a 39-29 shots advantage.
For SHU, it's Atlantic Hockey play the rest of the way, beginning with a home-and-home against American International on Feb. 2 and 4. It's a 7 p.m. start both nights, with Thursday in Springfield, Mass., and Saturday back in Fairfield at the Martire Family Arena.
