FAIRFIELD, Conn. – It was senior night again at Martire Family Arena. Yes, we celebrated those Sacred Heart seniors and graduate students during the last regular season game here, and many of them played a prominent role in that victory.

Those veterans accounted for all four goals and four assists in tonight's 4-1 win over Air Force in game one of the best-of-three AHA Quarterfinal Series.
Sacred Heart, which notched its 20^th victory, and Air Force traded goals before the Pioneers reeled off the last three. Tyler Ghirardosi had the first and last – and three points - for a home team that had just one powerplay chance.

The Pios grabbed an early lead with a nifty tip-in. Matthew Guerra, a graduate winger, won a battle for possession behind the visitor's net and then sent it out to the point for John Driscoll, who took a few strides and then shot the puck. Ghirardosi, who was tangled with a defenseman, got his stick on the puck and re-directed it into the back of the net for his seventh of the year.

The SHU special teams had too much work to do late in the opening frame. Two successful penalty kills can take its toll, even when you have senior blueliner Hunter Sansbury taking shots all over his body to protect in the net. One of the flurry of blocks during a penalty-kill sequence bumped the SHU co-captain into the all-time lead for AHA players. He now has the record with 307. However, a few minutes after the last kill, the Falcons tied it with 1:16 left in the first.

SHU took the lead again early in the second after sophomore winger Rylee Hlusiak crossed the blueline and sent the puck to his captain. John Jaworski, who nearly lost possession, pulled the puck back from a defender and skated through the right circle looking for his 11^th of the season. Just a few feet from the goal line, the graduate center flicked a shot over 6-foot-3 Air Force goalie Guy Blessing.

The home team made it two straight a few minutes later when Guerra, taking advantage of a 2-on-1, made a perfect crossing pass to Max Dorrington for a pretty top-shelf one-timer, his 12^th of the year. Ghirardosi picked up his second point of the night by feeding his linemate at the blueline.

The Pioneers, who didn't get an advantage until 8:08 was left on the clock in the third, were efficient with their 23 shots on goal. That efficiency stood up because rookie netminder Ajeet Gundarah had another outstanding performance with 29 saves.  The Richter Award candidate thwarted a half dozen grade A chances and made a bunch of other stops with lots of blue shirts whacking their sticks around him.

Air Force, which is back here tomorrow at 5 p.m. for game two, pulled Blessing with just over two minutes left, but the extra skater didn't amount to sustained pressure on the SHU net.