SECOND PLACE ON THE LINE
One thing is simple for the Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team at Bentley on Saturday: a regulation win will see the Pioneers take second place in Atlantic Hockey. Any other result will not. Any overtime or shootout result, win or loss, would put SHU in sole possession of third place. A regulation loss, combined with two regulation wins by AIC and/or Air Force, would create a tie for third place. SHU would finish third via tiebreakers in a head-to-head tie with AIC. The Pioneers would finish fourth via tiebreaker in a head-to-head tie with Air Force or in a three-way tie. Air Force hosts last-place Robert Morris for two, while AIC travels to second-to-last Army for a pair.

LAST WEEKEND
SHU had a chance to close out a second-place finish last weekend, but was swept away by Holy Cross in a Senior Weekend home-and-home instead. The Crusaders popped three in the first at home on Friday night and rolled to a 5-1 win, behind a pair of goals from Liam McLinskey. Garrett Sundquist got the Pios on the board first in Saturday's contest in Fairfield, with his first career goal, but Holy Cross struck twice in the third, including a power-play winner from McLinskey, to snatch a 2-1 victory.

SCOUTING THE FALCONS
For its part, Bentley will be joining SHU on the Robert Morris and Army bandwagon this weekend. A regulation win for the Falcons on Saturday, coupled with at least one regulation loss apiece by both AIC and Air Force would see Bentley take fourth place outright and grant the team home ice for the quarterfinal round of the Atlantic Hockey tournament. A regulation win, plus one regulation loss by either AIC or Air Force would at least allow the Falcons to earn a first-round bye, even if the other of the pair catches them. Bentley is unbeaten in its last three (2-0-1) and is 6-3-1 in its last 10, dating to an overtime win at SHU on Jan. 13.

PREVIOUSLY AGAINST BENTLEY
The two teams reverse-split a home-and-home in mid-January, with SHU taking four of the six points. On Friday night at Bentley, Daniel Ebrahim scored twice in the second and TJ Walsh added some important insurance in the third, for a 4-3 SHU victory. The Falcons answered with a 3-2 (OT) win on Saturday at Sacred Heart, courtesy of Stephen Castagna's game-winner.

ALL-TIME SERIES
The two teams have met 86 times in their history, with SHU holding at 43-37-6 advantage, which includes a 29-22-6 margin in Atlantic Hockey play. The Pios are 23-21-4 in 48 all-time contests on the road against Bentley, including a 4-2-0 record in six games at the Bentley Arena, which opened for the 2018-19 season. SHU has not lost back-to-back games against the Falcons since the 2017 postseason.

UP NEXT
SHU will be idle next weekend, as it has clinched a first-round bye in the Atlantic Hockey tournament. The Pios will open the postseason at home in the best-of-three quarterfinal round March 8-10 at Martire Family Arena. Puck drop is 7 p.m. all three nights, against an opponent to be determined.