It's Athletic Trainer Appreciation Night on Tuesday at the Martire Family Arena, as the Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team hosts Army West Point in an Atlantic Hockey showdown. The Pios and the Black Knights will take time to honor those in the profession, and Athletic Trainers from across the region have been invited to attend.
Catch all the action live on SNY and FloHockey, beginning at 7 p.m. Randy Brochu and Paul Pacelli have the call.
LAST TIME OUT
Head coach C.J. Marottolo was pointed in his postgame comments after Thursday's victory. He wanted to see Sacred Heart come out and play a better game on Saturday, in the back end of its home-and-home series against American International. On Saturday night though, the Pioneers surrendered three goals in the first period. SHU controlled the run of play the rest of the game from there, in front of a sold-out crowd of 4267 at Martire Family Arena, but could never mount a comeback, in a 4-1 Atlantic Hockey loss.
A LOOK AT THE PIOS
SHU (14-11-2, 12-5-2 AHA) had a seven-game (6-0-1) Atlantic Hockey unbeaten streak snapped on Saturday night and will look to get back in the win column on Tuesday. The second-place Pios boast the nation's fourth-best penalty kill, at 86.0% (74-for-86), which ranks tops in Atlantic Hockey. SHU is third in the AHA in both goals for (3.04) and goals against (2.68) per game. Luke Lush is fourth in the country, and third in Atlantic Hockey, in goals-against average (2.44).
SCOUTING THE BLACK KNIGHTS
Army (9-14-4, 8-9-2 AHA), which is tied-sixth in Atlantic Hockey, went just 2-5-1 in January, but opened February by taking four of a possible six points on the road at Niagara last weekend, via a 3-2 overtime win and a shootout win following a 3-3 tie. Joey Baez popped the OT winner 34 seconds into the extra session on Friday and also tallied the lone goal in the shootout on Saturday. Baez is tied for fifth in the country with eight power-play goals, for an Army unit which ranks fourth in the AHA on the advantage, at 19.8% (23-for-116).
LAST MEETING
It was one last time in the Park City on Jan. 5, as the Pios closed out their 6.5-year tenure at Total Mortgage Arena in style. Austin Magera had a first-period assist and a third-period goal to record his 100th career point, and Marcus Joughin handed out a season-best four assists, as SHU rolled to a 5-0 victory over visiting Army West Point in Atlantic Hockey play.
ALL-TIME SERIES
The all-time series between SHU and Army dates to 1996 and features 84 all-time meetings, with the Black Knights holding a slim, 37-34-13 advantage, including a 28-24-13 edge across 65 Atlantic Hockey contests. It has very much been a series dominated by the home team, with the Pios holding a 22-10-6 record in 38 games on home ice, though Tuesday will mark Army's first trip to the Martire Family Arena. SHU is unbeaten in its last four against Army (3-0-1), after the Black Knights put together a 6-0-2 stretch from February of 2020 through December of 2021.
