FAIRFIELD, Conn. (November 2, 2024) – One night after the special teams battle cost them a game on the road, one would have hoped the Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team would make a concerted effort to stay out of the penalty box on Saturday night. Instead, the Pioneers took seven penalties and conceded three more power-play goals on home ice, as Bentley posted a 6-4 win at Martire Family Arena to complete the clean sweep of the Atlantic Hockey home-and-home series. Bentley finished the weekend 5-for-10 with the man advantage.
 
Much like Friday night, SHU (2-5-1, 1-3-0 AHA) got things started early on Saturday, this time with a power-play goal at the 2:38 mark. John Jaworski (Grinnell, Iowa) held the puck in with a nifty play and got it to Marcus Joughin (Tecumseh, Ontario) on the left side. Joughin quickly sent it back to Jaworski above the hash marks, and the latter moved it over to the right side for Felix Trudeau (Terrebonne, Quebec). Trudeau hammered home his fifth of the season on a one-time shot from the middle of the circle.
 
Also much like Friday night, Bentley (4-3-1, 3-1-0 AHA) had the lead before the first period was out. The Falcons surged out front with power-play goals at 7:40 and 15:25, as A.J. Hodges buried a rebound from the left circle for his fourth of the year and then Kellan Hjartarson jammed home his second of the campaign at the top of the crease. An even-strength goal at 18:06 made it 3-1 heading into the intermission, as Oliver Salo deflected home Tucker Hodgson's shot for his first collegiate goal.
 
The two teams alternated their way through four goals in the second frame, as SHU twice closed within a goal, but Bentley reclaimed a two-goal lead heading into the second intermission. Jaworski drilled one between Connor Hasley and the pipe from an improbable angle on the left side for his first of the year at 4:15 to cut it to 3-2. Bentley needed just 2:27 to respond, when Oskar Bakkevig flagged a puck down in the neutral zone, carried into the attacking end and snapped a shot inside the far post from the middle of the left circle at 6:42, for his fourth of the campaign.
 
The Pioneers made it 4-3 at 17:24, as Hunter Sansbury (Lomita, Calif.) held the zone at the right point and set up Mikey Adamson (Quincy, Mass.) for a drive through traffic and his third of the year from the middle of the blue line at 17:24. Again Bentley had the response, this time on the power play just 71 seconds later. Garrett Horsager took the original shot from the middle of the blue line and Hjartarson swept home the rebound for his second of the night.
 
After each team had eight shots in the middle stanza, Bentley held a 7-3 shots advantage in the final period to lock things down. The two sides traded goals with the SHU net empty inside the final 2.5 minutes to create the 6-4 final. In an extra-attacker situation at 17:41, Sansbury and Daniel Ebrahim (Brooklin, Ontario) dug the puck out in the left-wing corner and Matthew Guerra (Orlando, Fla.) found the net from a sharp angle on the right side for his second of the season. It was for naught though, as Nick Bochen put things on ice with an unassisted, empty-net tally 48 seconds later.
 
Cullen DeYoung (Canton, Mich.) stopped six of nine shots in the first period, before ceding the net front to Ajeet Gundarah (Richmond, British Columbia). The latter stopped 11 of 13 the rest of the way and suffered the loss (0-1-0) in his collegiate debut. Hasley (3-2-1) made only nine saves in the game, against 13 shots, but picked up the win in the Bentley crease anyway.
 
SHU is on the road next weekend, for a pair against Mercyhurst on Nov. 8-9. Puck drop is 7 p.m. on Friday and 4 p.m. on Saturday at Mercyhurst Ice Center in Erie, Pa.