THAT'S WHAT THEY CALL A WINNING STREAK
After a disappointing series against Bentley to open the month of November, the Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team has kicked it into gear through the middle of the season's second month. The Pioneers have swept away Mercyhurst and Robert Morris over the past two weekends and are winners of four in a row heading into a matchup with perennial Atlantic Hockey contender Rochester Institute of Technology, which is off to a sluggish start. Puck drop is 7 p.m. both nights, and Saturday will be Hockey Fights Cancer night at Martire Family Arena. Randy Brochu (play-by-play), Paul Pacelli (analysis) and Makena Wright (rinkside reporting) have the call all weekend long on FloSports, with Friday's game set to air live on SNY in the tri-state area as well.

LAST WEEKEND
SHU played from behind for large stretches of last weekend, but used strong third periods in both games to sweep Robert Morris right out of Martire Family Arena. On Friday night, Reid Pabich popped the game-winner with just 12.2 seconds to play, as a three-goal third saw the Pios erase a 2-1 deficit on the way to a 4-2 victory. On Saturday, SHU trailed 2-0 in the first and 3-2 in the second, but equalized before the intermission both times. Then, Felix Trudeau struck twice in quick succession in the middle of the third and another three-goal third saw the way to a 6-3 win.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Picked second in the Atlantic Hockey Preseason Coaches' Poll, RIT has stumbled coming out of the gate this season, with just two wins in its first seven league games. The Tigers were swept off their home ice by Army last weekend, including a lopsided, 5-1 defeat on Friday, in which they were outshot, 36-20. The RIT power play has been anemic, at 15.6% (5-for-32) and second-worst in the 11-team AHA, but its penalty kill tops the league at 88.0% (44-for-50). The PK has had plenty of practice, as the Tigers are currently the most-penalized team in Atlantic Hockey (14.0 minutes per game).

PREVIOUSLY AGAINST RIT
Sacred Heart paid a visit to the Flour City late last October and split a pair of games at RIT's Polisseni Center. On Friday night, Gianfranco Cassaro broke a 2-2 tie at 17:59 of the second and Cody Laskosky later added an empty-net tally in a 4-2 RIT win. SHU bounced back on Saturday evening, as Blake Dangos, Braeden Tuck and Hunter Sansbury staked the Pios to a 3-0 lead on the way to a 5-2 victory.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Minus the 2020-21 pandemic season, the two teams have met annually since 2006-07, when RIT joined Atlantic Hockey. The Tigers have enjoyed the better of the series, posting a 34-17-2 record in 53 all-time meetings, including 28-12-2 across 42 AHA contests. RIT has won seven of the last nine (2-7-0) overall, and SHU is just 6-15-1 all-time on home ice against the Tigers. This weekend will mark RIT's first visit to Martire Family Arena. In a quirk of the scheduling process, this is RIT's first visit to SHU since the 2019 postseason.

UP NEXT
SHU is on the road Thanksgiving weekend, with a pair of games at Holy Cross on Nov. 29-30.