FAIRFIELD, Conn. (January 6, 2024) – After a tough conference loss on Friday night, the Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team was in need of a bounce-back effort on Saturday afternoon. It got one. Justin Robbins (Alpine, N.J.) stopped 30 of 31 shots and Tyler Spott (Toronto, Ontario) provided a timely third-period goal – his first as a Pioneer – and SHU picked up a much-needed 2-1 win over Mercyhurst in Atlantic Hockey Play at Martire Family Arena.
 
The first period went without a goal, but not without chances, as each team hit a pipe in the opening 20. Mercyhurst had a 14-9 advantage in shots in the first stanza, en route to a 31-22 margin for the afternoon.
 
The SHU power play – which had gone 0-for-7 over more than 14 minutes of advantage on Friday night – opened the scoring just 62 seconds into the middle frame. From the left wing, Marcus Joughin (Tecumseh, Ontario) sent the puck up high for Mikey Adamson (Quincy, Mass.), who put a shot on target from there. Owen Say turned the initial drive aside, but John Jaworski (Grinnell, Iowa) snagged the rebound, ushered it around Say's right pad and tucked it inside the left post for his seventh goal of the season.
 
"Really proud of our response tonight against a really tough Mercyhurst team that put us in some really tight spots defensively, with how much skill they have, and they're so good on the rush," said SHU head coach C.J. Marottolo after the game. "Our power play came up big tonight. Our PK came up big tonight."
 
Mercyhurst (7-10-3, 5-4-3 AHA) responded just over five minutes later, in transition at 6:36. Tyler Nasca won possession in his own end and kickstarted a 4-on-1 rush the other way. Garrett Dahm gained the zone on the left side and then set up Will Margel for the one-time finish from the right circle on the latter's fourth of the season.
 
After the remainder of the second period went without another goal, the game went to the third frame locked in a 1-1 tie. The winner came on the rush for SHU at 3:53, after TJ Walsh (Calgary, Alberta) poked the puck away from the Lakers in the defensive end. Jaworski took control and went steaming down the left wing into the offensive end, heading up a 2-on-1 rush. He took a big shot from the left circle, which produced a big rebound into the right circle after it thundered off Say's pad. Spott pounced on the rebound and hammered home his first goal in a Sacred Heart uniform to break the tie.
 
Mercyhurst would ultimately get Say to the bench for the final 72 seconds, but was unable to find a tying goal. In fact, the Lakers were held to just seven shots in the third period.
 
"Overall, a great team effort," added Marottolo. "We'll enjoy this here for the next 20 to 30 minutes and start focusing in on Army."
Robbins (1-1-0) looked much more comfortable in the SHU crease than he did a week ago, and turned aside 30 of 31 shots to pick up his first win since Oct. 13, 2022, at Holy Cross. Say (6-7-3) made 20 stops against 22 shots in defeat for Mercyhurst.
 
"Really happy for Justin Robbins," said Marottolo. "He's worked hard to get back to this point and he really played well."
 
Sacred Heart (9-9-1, 9-4-0 AHA) is back in action on Tuesday, when it hosts Army on First Responder Night at Martire Family Arena. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m., and tickets are available through Ticketmaster.