FAIRFIELD, Conn. (October 6, 2024) – It was the final preseason tune-up for everybody involved, and even the goal horn got a good workout in on Sunday afternoon at Martire Family Arena. In its second and final exhibition contest of the season, the Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team poured in seven goals to pick up a 7-3 win on home ice against Simon Fraser.
Mikey Adamson (Quincy, Mass.) led the way with a goal and two assists as one of five Pios to put together a multiple-point game.
The goals came early and often on Sunday, as the two teams combined for five scores in the first period. Ben Ward got the party started for Simon Fraser at 7:58, but the only lead of the day for the Red Leafs would be short-lived. Jaworski had the answer for SHU just 27 seconds later, at 8:25, off assists from
Tyler Ghirardosi (Montrose, British Columbia) and
Matthew Guerra (Orlando, Fla.), as the whole line got in on the act. The line would account for three of the day's seven goals, after also finding the net on Saturday at Merrimack.
The game went briefly off the rails in the final 100 seconds of the opening frame, with three goals scored in a span of just 87 seconds. Ghirardosi and Adamson set up Guerra at 18:21 to put the Pios out front, and then SHU struck immediately off the ensuing faceoff. Adamson fired ahead to
Felix Trudeau (Terrebonne, Quebec), who found
Max Dorrington (North Reading, Mass.) for the finish, as Sacred Heart turned a 1-1 tie into a 3-1 lead with two goals in eight seconds.
Simon Fraser got one back before the break though, as Walker Erickson forced a turnover inside his own blue line and went all the way to the other end and scored an unassisted tally to halve the deficit.
The second stanza was much quieter, with SHU finding the only goal of the period.
Vitaly Levyy (Old Brookville, N.Y.) connected with
Jeremi Tremblay (Quebec City, Quebec) just 56 seconds into the frame.
Sacred Heart pulled away with three goals in the third to go on to the 7-3 win. Ghirardosi set the table for Jaworski's second of the afternoon, a 4-on-4 goal at the 39-second mark. Dorrington and Trudeau provided the helpers on a goal for
Luke Amell (Mars, Pa.) at 11:59. Levyy picked up his second assist at 15:44, as he and
Cole Galata (Newmarket, Ontario) combined to get the puck to Adamson, and the latter capped his three-point afternoon (1-2-3).
Amid the flurry of SHU goals, Simon Fraser found its third and final goal of the day. Austin Fraser banked home a power-play tally from down low on the right side, off assists from Tanner Dawkins and Holden Cardinal.
Cole O'Donnell (Rochester, N.Y.) made 11 saves against 14 shots in the SHU crease, as the Pios outshot Simon Fraser, 31-14. Jesse Makaj stopped 24 of 31 for the Red Leafs.
SHU opens the regular season on the road next weekend, with a two-game series at ECAC member Colgate, which was swept at Connecticut this weekend. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. on Friday and 4 p.m. on Saturday at Class of 1965 Arena in Hamilton, N.Y.
