FAIRFIELD, Conn. — The Sacred Heart University women's ice hockey team begins the conference portion of its 2024-25 schedule, hosting Saint Anselm College for a pair of New England Women's Hockey Alliance (NEWHA) tilts this weekend. Puck drop on Friday, October 11 is slated for 7 p.m. while Saturday's contest is scheduled for 2 p.m. More information can be found at sacredheartpioneers.com. 
 
ORIGINAL SIX
Junior goaltender Jillian Petruno picked up her first win of the season in the 2-1 OT win over RPI last Friday as the Pioneer goalie currently sits first in the NEWHA with a 2.44 goals against average and .500 win percentage to start the season. 
 
Through two games, Sacred Heart sits second in the conference in power-play percentage (16.7%) and in scoring offense (1.00) while Petruno's .934 save percentage in her first two starts of the season places her in second in the conference among all goalies. 
 
Three Pioneers grabbed their first points in the Red & White last weekend with Sami Bowlby's power-play tally and Savannah Popick's game-winning goal in overtime providing the finishing touches on a season-opening 2-1 win over RPI. Alyssa Antonakis grabbed her first point with the primary assist on Popick's overtime goal to round out the three new Pios who earned points last weekend. 
 
In total, six Pios registered a point in the season-opening win over RPI with Paige McNeil and Kate Helgeson earning assists on Sami Bowlby's season-opening goal before Isabella Chaput and Alyssa Antonakis grabbed the helpers on Popick's game-winner in overtime. 
 
Seven first-year players made their Pioneer debuts with Ally Cohen, Brianna Morden, and Ella Holm grabbing time in both games of the RPI series while Lake Bethard, Addie Bowlby, Shae Carroll and Norah Morris earned time in the series finale on Saturday in New York. 
 
This weekend's matchup marks consecutive weeks that members of the Red & White will face familiar opposition as Savannah Popick will take on her former team for the first time since transferring to SHU over the summer. Popick faced former teammate Natalie Tulchinsky last weekend as the former Hawk took her fifth-year option to play for RPI.  
 
LAST TIME OUT
Sacred Heart opened the season in dramatic fashion last Friday night, opening family weekend with a thrilling, 2-1 overtime win over RPI at Martire Family Arena. The Pios fought hard in the series finale but could not overcome an early deficit, falling 4-0 on Saturday night at Houston Field House in Troy, N.Y. to go 1-1 in the opening week of the season. 
 
In game one, it was the Pios doggedness defensively that kept the home side in the game as Jillian Petruno stopped all 18 shots that came her way in the first two frames to keep the game in a scoreless deadlock. On the other hand, the Pios had their chances in the opening 40 minutes of action but were unable to solve RPI's starting netminder Reese Keating, who clamped down on SHU's first 14 shots. Having already had two power-play earlier in the game, the Pios found the game-opening goal on the advantage just over five minutes into the third period. 
 
Looking to find space open in front of the net, the Pios worked the puck along the blueline before finding a tic-tac-toe play in front of the RPI net that Sami Bowlby finished off for her first collegiate goal, putting the Pios up, 1-0. 
 
Having stymied the Engineers through 57 minutes of game action, the Pios found themselves in penalty trouble late in regulation to put the visitors on back-to-back power plays with under five to go in the third. Having kept the chances to the outside, RPI found the back of the net via a blueline wrister that made its way past the plethora of bodies in front and behind Petruno to level the game with just under three minutes left in regulation to push the game to the extra period. 
 
In overtime, SHU found the breakthrough with two minutes left as Alyssa Antonakis sent a stretch pass ahead to defender Savannah Popick who breezed into the offensive zone, brushing off a defender before sending a backhand past Keating and into the net to give SHU a 2-1 win. 
 
The tides turned in game two, however, as RPI jumped out to a 1-0 lead early in the first period due to a scramble in front that eventually found an Engineer stick who sent the puck into an empty SHU net. With SHU facing a daunting task to try and upset the Engineers at home, RPI kept the Pios at bay before adding to their lead in the second period as Morgann Skoda tallied her first of two goals on the evening to give RPI a 2-0 lead through 40 minutes. With just over five minutes remaining, RPI struck twice in the final minutes of regulation with Skoda grabbing her second of the evening on the power play before Georgia Bailey tallied another power-play tally with three seconds left in regulation to get the 4-0 win. 
 
ON SAINT ANSELM
The Hawks (0-2-0, 0-0 NEWHA) head into the weekend having dropped both ends of a home-and-home series with Holy Cross last weekend, falling 5-1 on the road on Friday before dropping their home opener 3-2 on Saturday to close out the weekend. 
 
In game one, the Hawks cut into a two-goal deficit in the second period with Brenna Young's tally late in the frame, however, three goals in the third period – including two in :36 just four minutes into the period – saw the hosts ride out a 5-1 win in the series opener. In game two, Tyra Turner cut into the two-goal deficit that the Hawks found themselves in just hallway through the second period before Brooklyn Schneiderhan tied the game with eight minutes gone in the third period to level the scoreline, 2-2. However, the Hawks gave up the last goal of the game just over two minutes later as the Crusaders spoiled SAC's home-opener with a 3-2 win. 
 
Saint Anselm is led in points by Schneiderhan and Turner who both have two on the season courtesy of a goal and an assist each. Brenna Young has the Hawks' other tally on the season while Madi Ressler is the only other player to record a point this season. Last season, Schneiderhan was second on the team with 28 points, 18 of which came from goals, while Turner places fifth on the squad with 21 points via 15 assists in 33 games. 
 
In goal, three players have seen time with Annabella Lalande and Carina Mancini splitting the first two starts of the season. Lalande grabbed the first start of the season for SAC, allowing four goals while grabbing 45 saves in just over two periods of action before junior Ava Hills was inserted in relief. Mancini got the starting nod in game two, posting 29 saves in the 3-2 loss in the series finale. Lalande, who made a 15-minute cameo in last season's 6-2 loss to SHU on January 12, 2024, boasts an 8-4-2 record coupled with a .914 save percentage in 18 games in her career. 
 
Behind the bench, Sam Ftorek enters his first season as the bench boss for his alma mater after being named the fourth head coach in the program's history in May. Ftorek, who amassed 57 points in 87 games during his career with the Hawks, recently served as the Head Girls Ice Hockey Coach at the Kent School in Connecticut, leading them to a Founder's League Championship in 2024. The Pios split last season's meeting's at Martire Family Arena, ultimately falling in the regular season series 3-1.