FAIRFIELD, Conn. (January 19, 2024) – You could say he smelled blood in the water at the top of the crease. You could say Holy Cross needed a bigger boat, if you wanted to be extra silly about it. Either way, it was an overtime winner for John Jaworski (Grinnell, Iowa) – aka "Jaws" – on Friday night, to lift the Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team to a 2-1 (OT) win in Atlantic Hockey play at Martire Family Arena.
 
With two of Atlantic Hockey's top-five scoring defenses squaring off with each other, one might have expected a low-scoring affair in Fairfield on Friday night. One would have gotten it. The two teams combined to block 28 shots on the night, with SHU's Hunter Sansbury (Lomita, Calif.) leading the way with a career-high seven. The first period went scoreless, as did the third. In between, the two teams traded a goal apiece in the middle frame.
 
"The boys worked really hard, and a ton of guys blocked shots," said winning goaltender Justin Robbins (Alpine, N.J.) after the game. "We stuck to our game and just found a way to win."
 
SHU (11-11-2, 11-6-1 AHA) opened the scoring at the 5:56 mark of the middle frame. Dylan Robbins (Alpine, N.J.) poked the puck free at his own blue line to Jaworski, who fired it ahead to a waiting TJ Walsh (Shrewsbury, Mass.). The pass sprung Walsh in on a partial breakaway, and he fired his team-leading 12^th of the season inside the left post from just above the hash marks.
 
Holy Cross (11-11-4, 6-9-3 AHA) had the answer at 11:33. Liam McLinskey picked off an outlet pass at the top of the right circle, deked around a defender, made his way to the top of the crease and popped home a backhand effort for his ninth of the campaign.
 
The Pioneers had the better of the chances in the third period and posted a 12-6 shots advantage, to give them a 29-27 edge through regulation, but nothing was decided through 60 minutes. In overtime, Holy Cross had the first quality chance, as Jack Stockfish rang the far pipe from the top of the right circle just 87 seconds into the frame.
 
Just over a minute later, Daniel Ebrahim (Brookline, Ontario) laid the puck off for Conner Hutchison (Hicksville, N.Y.) in the neutral zone, and the latter tore off down the left wing. Hutchison carried down the boards, then into the corner, then, just before heading behind the net, slipped a pass out front to Jaworski, who had nosed his way to the top of the crease.
 
Holy cross netminder Thomas Gale got a big piece of Jaworski's effort, but not enough to keep it out. The puck slipped behind Gale and trickled across the goal line, touching off the celebration on SHU's first overtime win of the season (1-2-2). It was Jaworski's eighth goal of the year, and his first career overtime winner, at 2:41.
 
"It's really big," said Jaworski of the win, after the game. "One, for the points in our conference, and two, just as a team. It's huge to get wins like that to come together and bond as a team."
 
Justin Robbins (3-2-0) made 27 saves against 28 shots to pick up the win in front of the SHU net. Gale (5-8-2) stopped 29 of 31 in the Holy Cross crease in defeat.
 
"It was awesome," said Robbins, referring to the near-capacity crowd at Martire Family Arena. "We really feed off the energy and we are going to need it going down the stretch."
 
The two teams will wrap up the weekend series on Saturday night, when Sacred Heart makes the return trip to Holy Cross. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at the Hart Center in Worcester, Mass.