FAIRFIELD, Conn. (March 9, 2024) – Facing elimination, the third-seeded Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team got off to a hot start on Saturday night, in the second game of its Atlantic Hockey quarterfinal series against seventh-seeded Niagara. Daniel Ebrahim (Brooklin, Ontario) found the net from a sharp angle just 19 seconds into the proceedings at Martire Family Arena, but it would be all that was heard from the SHU offense on the night. Niagara poured in three second-period goals, as part of a run of five unanswered on the way to a 5-1 victory.
 
Things were promising out of the gate, as the Pioneers struck on the very first shift of the game. Jake Bongo (Ridgefield, Conn.) worked the puck into the zone down the left wing for Ebrahim. Ebrahim took it all the way down below the circle before flinging it towards the net. The shot got lost in the equipment of Niagara goaltender Jarrett Fiske for a moment, but then dropped out behind him and trickled over the line for Ebrahim's ninth of the season, 19 seconds in.
 
SHU (14-19-3) would carry the one-goal lead all the way through the first intermission, but the second period proved problematic. Niagara (18-16-3) got itself level early in the middle frame. Tyler Wallace provided the feed from behind the goal line on the left side and Carter Randklev popped home his third goal of the series at 3:11.
 
The Purple Eagles then struck twice in rapid succession in the back half of the stanza to seize control. First, Randklev – who had 3-3-6 over the two games – chipped the puck out of the defensive zone to Jay Ahearn, who gloved it down and took off the other way on a breakaway. He snapped a shot past Justin Robbins (New York, N.Y.) at 14:32 for his eighth of the campaign.
 
After matching minors off the ensuing faceoff, Kevin Lombardi (Schwenksville, Pa.) was whistled for cross checking behind the Niagara net just 27 seconds later, at 14:59, and Ahearn struck again on the 4-on-3 power play. The play went around the horn, from Randklev on the left wing, up top to Shane Ott and into the right circle to Ahearn, who hammered home his second goal in 47 seconds, at 15:19.
 
Early in the third, SHU took another penalty behind the Niagara goal line – this time Dylan Robbins (New York, N.Y.) for boarding – and the Purple Eagles struck for the dagger at 4:30. Glebs Prohorenkovs provided the feed from the right side and Jack Richard had the one-time finish at the edge of the left circle for his 10^th of the season. Lane Brockhoff capped things off with a 150-foot empty-net goal at 16:42.
 
Robbins (6-9-1) finished with 16 saves against 20 shots in the SHU crease. Fiske (16-9-2) piled up 36 saves against 37 shots in front of the Niagara net.
 
It marked the second straight year SHU saw its season come to an end on its home ice at the hands of Niagara in the quarterfinal round. The Purple Eagles will advance to next weekend's semifinal round, against an opponent to be determined.