BUSY WEEK
The Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team will be eager to flip the calendar to December following a rough weekend to close out the month of November, as the Pioneers were swept away on the road at Holy Cross last weekend. It's a busy, three-game week to close out the first half of the season for SHU, beginning with the semester's final home game on Tuesday night, when Army pays a visit to Martire Family Arena for a 7 p.m. puck drop. Randy Brochu and Paul Pacelli have the call live on FloSports. The game will air on tape delay on SNY in the tri-state area, at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

LAST WEEKEND
SHU headed into Holy Cross last weekend with a six-game unbeaten streak (5-0-1) and left with a two-game losing streak, as the Crusaders swept the weekend to post a 3-1-0 record and take eight of 12 points from the season series, which is already completed. Max Dorrington had the lone Sacred Heart goal both nights, as the Pioneers fell 6-1 on Friday and 4-1 on Saturday at Hart Center. The SHU power play could not get much of anything going and finished the weekend 0-for-11, dropping from second in Atlantic Hockey to eighth in the process, now standing at 17.2%.

SCOUTING THE BLACK KNIGHTS
For its part, Army heads into Tuesday's contest losers of three in a row. The Black Knights dropped a 5-3 Atlantic Hockey decision at home again Holy Cross on Nov. 22, fell 3-1 on the road at Stonehill the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and lost 3-1 at Massachusetts on Black Friday. Army has split its last six league contests and Tuesday marks the conclusion of the team's first-half schedule. The West Point pucksters have really struggled to get things going offensively: the team is averaging just 2.14 goals per game, which ranks ninth in the 11-team AHA, while the power play is dead last in the league and 62nd of 64 teams in the country, at just 8.3%.

PREVIOUSLY AGAINST ARMY
The two teams last met for a one off at Army's Tate Rink in mid-January last season. A hat trick from Nik Hong led the way for the Black Knights, who built a 3-0 lead behind a 14-2 shots advantage in the first period, then held on the rest of the way for a 5-3 victory. Daniel Ebrahim, Jake Bongo and Andrius Kulbis-Marino all scored in defeat for SHU.

ALL-TIME SERIES
The two old foes have met at least once annually since the 1995-96 season and have been conference opponents since 2000-01. Army holds a 39-35-14 edge across 88 all-time meetings in a series which has been dominated by the home teams. SHU is 23-11-7 in 41 home-ice contests against Army. The two have split their first three meetings at Martire Family Arena, 1-1-1, and have split their last 10 overall contests right down the middle as well, 4-4-2.

UP NEXT
SHU will wrap up the season's first half with a lengthy trip out to Western New York this weekend. The Pioneers travel to meet Canisius for a pair on Dec. 6-7. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. on Friday and 6 p.m. on Saturday at Harborcenter.