BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED
It's November, and that means it's officially the holiday season at Martire Family Arena, as the Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team hosts Robert Morris for a pair of Atlantic Hockey contests this weekend. Chaz & AJ from 99.1 WPLR will be conduting a toy drive in conjunction with Friday's 7 p.m. contest and Saturday's series finale is set for a 4 p.m. puck drop. Jeff Nelson has the call on FloSports on Friday night, while Randy Brochu takes the reins on Saturday afternoon. Paul Pacelli will provide color commentary duties on both dates, while Makena Wright handles rinkside reporting. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.

LAST WEEKEND
It was an important bounce-back series and a strong road effort out in Western Pennsylvania for the Pioneers last weekend. SHU went out to Erie and swept away Mercyhurst, winning 4-3 on Friday night and 4-1 on Saturday afternoon. John Jaworski went for 2-2-4, including two goals and an assist on Saturday, on the way to Atlantic Hockey Forward of the Week honors. Ajeet Gundarah made his first two collegiate starts and stopped 60 of 64 shots across the weekend, including 34 of 35 on Saturday, to earn AHA Goaltender of the Week accolades. The SHU penalty kill was a perfect 6-for-6 across the two games, rebounding from an ugly, 5-for-10 weekend against Bentley.

SCOUTING THE COLONIALS
After finishing dead last in Atlantic Hockey last year and winning just 11 games overall, Robert Morris seems to have a better idea of the plot thus far in 2024-25. The Colonials have won four of their first seven, including a weekend sweep of Miami (Ohio) to open the campaign. RMU has split its first three AHA games right down the middle, 1-1-1. The Colonials have been idle since Nov. 4, when they took a 5-2 victory on the road at Mercyhurst. The team currently ranks first in the league in both scoring offense (3.71 goals per game) and scoring defense (2.43).

PREVIOUSLY AGAINST ROBERT MORRIS
Sacred Heart was out in Western Pennsylvania on Thanksgiving weekend a year ago and was not the most polite house guest, as the Pioneers swept away the Colonials on their home ice. SHU used three goals in the first period to jump out front early on Friday en route to a 4-2 victory, and then Jake Bongo popped the game-winner in the middle of the third to secure a 3-1 win on Saturday.

ALL-TIME SERIES
The two teams first met in 2004, and then annually from 2010-11 through 2019-20 after Robert Morris joined Atlantic Hockey. The two did not meet in the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 campaign and then the Colonials' program took a two-year hiatus and returned to the ice last season. RMU dominated the series from its inception through 2017-18, as it went unbeaten through the first 23 meetings (22-0-1) between the two teams. SHU has turned the tables since, with a 7-1-0 record since the start of the 2018-19 season, including wins in each of the last six contests. This weekend will mark Robert Morris' first-ever trip to the Martire Family Arena.

UP NEXT
SHU is right back home next weekend, with a pair of games against RIT on Nov. 22-23.