ERIE, Pa. (November 8, 2024) – Six days, an eight-hour drive and 450 miles worth of distance seemed to be exactly what the Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team needed to put between it and last weekend's action against Bentley. The Pioneers struck three times in the first period at Mercyhurst on Friday night and Jake Hewitt (Fitchburg, Mass.) popped the third-period winner, as SHU was able to grind out a 4-3 win in western Pennsylvania.
 
The goals came early and often in the first period at Mercyhurst Ice Center, as the two teams combined for five scores in the opening 20 minutes. Max Dorrington (North Reading, Mass.) finished off a rebound at the top of the crease for his second of the year at 7:51, but Mercyhurst (2-9-0, 2-5-0 AHA) responded at 9:29, when Connor Pelc set up Mickey Burns' fourth of the year at the right post on the rush.
 
"Mercyhurst is a team that's very good in transition and they put us in some hard spots," said SHU head coach C.J. Marottolo after the game. "I thought, overall, our guys responded with a really hard-fought win that our group really needed, and they earned it tonight."
 
SHU (3-5-1, 2-3-0 AHA) already had a 6-3 shots advantage at the time and wasn't even so much as slowed down by the Mercyhurst tally. The Pioneers reclaimed the lead nine seconds later, and struck twice in just 77 seconds to open up a 3-1 lead.
 
First, Mercyhurst won the faceoff after its goal, but John Jaworski (Grinnell, Iowa) forced a neutral-zone turnover almost immediately. He knocked the puck free to Reid Pabich (Verona, Wis.), who zipped it over to Felix Trudeau (Terrebonne, Quebec) on the left side. The latter buried his team-leading sixth of the season in the top shelf from the top of the left circle.
 
A couple shifts later, Garrett Sundquist (South Glastonbury, Conn.) worked the puck to the right point for Gabe Blanchard (East Aurora, N.Y.), who took a shot from there. Tyler Ghirardosi (Montrose, British Columbia) got a piece of it on the way and deflected home his first as a Pioneer at 10:55.
 
Mercyhurst would get one back inside the final minute of the frame to cap a busy opening stanza. From behind the net, Dustin Geregach stepped out to the left-wing side and stuffed his fourth of the campaign in at the left post at 19:05.
 
After five goals in the first, the two teams put away just one in the second, as Mercyhurst tied the game at the 3:50 mark. Mickey Burns got on the other end of a clearing attempt and found himself with a partial breakaway, then snapped home his fourth of the season to level the game at 3-3.
 
Things tightened up in the third, when each side held the other to just seven shots. SHU broke the tie at the 6:46 mark, with what would stand as the game-winner. Jeremi Tremblay (Quebec City, Quebec) chased down a loose puck in the right-wing corner and moved it to Charles Tardif (Quebec City, Quebec) at the side of the net. Tardif made a nifty, one-touch centering pass between his own skates and found Hewitt right on the doorstep. Hewitt hammered it home and unleashed a first pump to celebrate his second goal of the year.
 
After a weekend which saw the penalty kill surrender the game-winning goal in both contests against Bentley, this time around the Pioneers got a big third-period kill to finish things off. Tremblay was sent to the box for tripping at 16:03, but the SHU penalty kill refused to allow so much as a shot on goal. Hunter Sansbury (Lomita, Calif.) and Matthew Guerra (Orlando, Fla.) both turned in blocked shots on the kill.
 
"The PK really came up big tonight, especially in the third; we got a couple of big blocks," continued Marottolo.
 
Ajeet Gundarah (Richmond, British Columbia) would make two saves in the final minute while Mercyhurst had the extra attacker on to finish off a 26-save effort and pick up his first collegiate win (1-1-0) in the SHU net. Simon Bucheler (2-6-0) made 28 saves against 32 shots and suffered the loss in the Mercyhurst net.
 
"Real proud of our guys tonight with a gutsy road win," added Marottolo. "We've got a short turnaround tomorrow… but I know our guys are excited to go."
 
The two teams will wrap up their weekend series at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Mercyhurst Ice Center.