2020–21 Sacred Heart Pioneers men's ice hockey season

2020–21 Sacred Heart Pioneers
men's ice hockey season
2020–21 Sacred Heart Pioneers; men's ice hockey season
Conference	Atlantic Hockey
Home ice	Webster Bank Arena
Rankings
USCHO.com	NR
USA Today/; US Hockey Magazine	NR
Record
Overall	6–10–2
Conference	6–6–1–1–2–0
Home	3–2–2
Road	2–8–0
Neutral	1–0–0
Coaches and captains
Head coach	C. J. Marottolo
Assistant coaches	Scott McDougall; Steve Bergin; Craig Height
Captain(s)	Marc Johnstone
Alternate captain(s)	Alex Bates; Max Luukko
	Sacred Heart Pioneers men's ice hockey seasons; « 2019–20 2021–22 »

The 2020–21 Sacred Heart Pioneers men's ice hockey season was the 28th season of play for the program, the 23rd at the Division I level, and the 18th season in the Atlantic Hockey conference. The Pioneers represented Sacred Heart University and were coached by C. J. Marottolo, in his 12th season.

The start of the college hockey season was delayed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. As a result, Sacred Heart's first scheduled game was in late-November as opposed to early-October, which was the norm.

Season

As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the entire college ice hockey season was delayed. Because the NCAA had previously announced that all winter sports athletes would retain whatever eligibility they possessed through at least the following year, none of Sacred Heart's players would lose a season of play.^[1] However, the NCAA also approved a change in its transfer regulations that would allow players to transfer and play immediately rather than having to sit out a season, as the rules previously required.^[2]

Coming off of the best season in the history of the program, Sacred Heart saw a bit of a decline. The team finished 6–10–2 but the record does not reflect the difficulties that the team faced during the season. The Pioneers were not alone in suffering through COVID-related cancellations, but Sacred Heart saw their opposition increase in difficulty as a result. Many of their cancelled games were against weaker teams and the Pioneers added a set of games with Quinnipiac, a team that was ranked throughout the season. Additionally, Sacred Heart played Army (another ranked team) six times during the season, a full third of their games. While SHU kept most of those matches close they did lose to the Black Knights 5 times during the season, which accounts for half of the team's losses. It would be difficult to come away with any conclusions about Sacred Heart's season other than the team had to weather several storms during the year.

Departures

Player	Position	Nationality	Cause
Drennen Atherton	Goaltender	United States	Transferred to Norwich
Vito Bavaro	Forward	United States	Graduation
Colin Bernard	Defenseman	United States	Left program
Jason Cotton	Forward	United States	Graduation (Signed with Carolina Hurricanes)
Jordan Kaplan	Forward	United States	Transferred to Vermont
Mike Lee	Defenseman	United States	Graduation (Signed with Indy Fuel)
Austin McIlmurray	Forward	United States	Graduation (Signed with Fort Wayne Komets)
Matt Tugnutt	Forward	Canada	Transferred to Providence

Recruiting

Player	Position	Nationality	Age	Notes
Grant Anderson	Defenseman	United States	21	Plymouth, MN
Ryan Doolin	Forward	United States	21	Hanover, MA
Carson Gallagher	Forward	Canada	21	Courtice, ON
Cody Hoban	Forward	United States	19	Guilford, CT
John Jaworski	Forward	United States	20	Grinnell, IA
Andrius Kulbis-Marino	Defenseman	United States	20	Methuen, MA
Emil Öhrvall	Forward	Sweden	22	Växjö, SWE; transfer from Michigan
Adam Tisdale	Forward	Canada	21	Cochrane, AB; transfer from Clarkson
David Tomeo	Goaltender	United States	21	West Caldwell, NJ

Roster

As of September 15, 2020^[update].^[3]

No.	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
3	Grant Anderson	Freshman	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	1999-09-15	Plymouth, Minnesota	Omaha (USHL)	—
4	Jeppe Urup Morgensen	Sophomore	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	176 lb (80 kg)	1999-03-14	Odense, Denmark	Youngstown (USHL)	—
5	Andrius Kulbis-Marino	Freshman	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2000-02-16	Methuen, Massachusetts	Maine (NAHL)	—
6	Max Luukko (A)	Senior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1995-12-28	Avalon, New Jersey	Philadelphia (USPHL)	—
7	Daniel Petrick	Sophomore	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	199 lb (90 kg)	1999-04-06	Wilbraham, Massachusetts	Madison (USHL)	—
8	Tim Clifton	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	1998-02-23	Farmingdale, New Jersey	Shreveport (NAHL)	—
9	John Jaworski	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2000-03-20	Grinnell, Iowa	Chicago (USHL)	—
10	Alex Bates (A)	Senior	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1997-06-17	Parker, Colorado	Wenatchee (BCHL)	—
11	Ryan Steele	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	182 lb (83 kg)	1997-09-13	Stratford, Prince Edward Island	West Kelowna (BCHL)	—
12	Kevin Lombardi	Sophomore	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	234 lb (106 kg)	1998-08-12	Schwenksville, Pennsylvania	Sioux City (USHL)	—
13	Cody Hoban	Freshman	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2001-04-26	Guilford, Connecticut	Danbury (NAHL)	—
14	Nick Boyagian	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	1997-07-16	East Greenbush, New York	New Jersey (NAHL)	—
15	Evan Wisocky	Senior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1998-03-20	Hoboken, New Jersey	Connecticut (HEA)	—
16	Marcus Joseph	Junior	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1997-05-08	Mountain Top, Pennsylvania	Nanaimo (BCHL)	—
17	Emil Öhrvall	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1998-06-10	Växjö, Sweden	Michigan (Big Ten)	—
18	Michael Gilroy	Senior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1996-10-10	North Bellmore, New York	P. A. L. (USPHL)	—
19	Ryan Doolin	Freshman	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-02-06	Hanover, Massachusetts	Alberni Valley (BCHL)	—
20	Adam Tisdale	Junior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	171 lb (78 kg)	1998-11-09	Cochrane, Alberta	Clarkson (ECAC)	—
21	Josh Allan	Senior	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1997-05-02	Orillia, Ontario	Trenton (OJHL)	—
22	Derek Contessa	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	206 lb (93 kg)	1999-03-03	Freehold, New Jersey	Dubuque (USHL)	—
23	Braeden Tuck	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	1998-04-15	Calgary, Alberta	Trail (BCHL)	—
24	Austin Magera	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1998-07-19	Suwanee, Georgia	Lincoln (USHL)	—
25	Carson Gallagher	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	1999-08-04	Courtice, Ontario	Johnstown (NAHL)	—
26	Marc Johnstone (C)	Senior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1996-06-19	Cranford, New Jersey	Chicago (USHL)	—
27	Patrick Dawson	Sophomore	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-01-14	Medway, Massachusetts	Odessa (NAHL)	—
28	Marcel Godbout	Senior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1996-06-04	St. Clair Shores, Michigan	Sioux City (NAHL)	—
29	Todd Goehring	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1997-07-08	Wayside, New Jersey	Chicago (USHL)	—
30	Josh Benson	Junior	G	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1997-11-04	Stillwater, Minnesota	Fairbanks (NAHL)	—
31	David Tomeo	Freshman	G	6' 1" (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1999-03-02	West Caldwell, New Jersey	Johnstown (NAHL)	—
33	Luke Lush	Sophomore	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	1998-02-15	Sherwood Park, Alberta	Drayton Valley (AJHL)	—

Standings

2020–21 Atlantic Hockey Standings v t e
	Conference record											Overall record
	GP	W	L	T	OW	OL	SW	PTS	PT%	GF	GA	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#15 American International †*	12	11	1	0	1	0	0	32	.889	47	18	19	15	4	0	67	40
Army	15	10	4	1	3	1	1	30	.667	42	33	22	15	6	1	71	48
Robert Morris	15	10	5	0	2	1	0	29	.644	58	48	24	15	9	0	85	69
Canisius	13	8	5	0	1	1	0	24	.615	42	34	17	11	6	0	59	46
RIT	13	7	5	1	0	0	1	23	.590	43	40	20	9	9	2	68	70
Sacred Heart	13	6	6	1	1	2	0	20	.513	35	38	18	6	10	2	43	59
Mercyhurst	16	7	8	1	1	1	1	23	.479	54	50	21	8	12	1	64	67
Bentley	15	4	11	0	1	5	0	16	.356	35	48	16	5	11	0	42	51
Niagara	15	3	9	3	0	2	1	15	.333	39	53	22	7	12	3	57	70
Air Force	13	3	9	1	2	1	0	9	.231	32	49	14	3	10	1	35	56
Holy Cross	12	3	9	0	2	0	0	7	.194	22	38	16	4	12	0	30	52
Championship: March 20, 2021 † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion (Riley Trophy) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and Results

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Site	Decision	Result	Attendance	Record
Regular Season
December 4	6:00 PM	at Holy Cross	Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts	Benson	W 2–1	0	1–0–0 (1–0–0)
December 6	2:00 PM	at Holy Cross	Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts	Benson	L 3–6	0	1–1–0 (1–1–0)
December 14	7:00 PM	at #11 Quinnipiac*	People's United Center • Hamden, Connecticut	Lush	L 2–9	0	1–2–0
December 15	7:00 PM	at #11 Quinnipiac*	People's United Center • Hamden, Connecticut	Benson	L 1–2 ^OT	0	1–3–0
January 6	3:05 PM	vs. Air Force	Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York	Benson	W 4–3 ^OT	0	2–3–0 (2–1–0)
January 26	5:00 PM	at #19 American International	MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts	Benson	L 2–8	0	2–4–0 (2–2–0)
January 29	5:05 PM	at Army	Tate Rink • West Point, New York	Benson	L 1–2	0	2–5–0 (2–3–0)
January 30	6:00 PM	vs. Army	Webster Bank Arena • Bridgeport, Connecticut	Benson	T 2–2 ^SOL	0	2–5–1 (2–3–1)
February 4	5:05 PM	vs. Bentley	Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts	Benson	W 4–0	0	3–5–1 (3–3–1)
February 5	5:05 PM	at Bentley	Webster Bank Arena • Bridgeport, Connecticut	Benson	W 4–2	0	4–5–1 (4–3–1)
February 8	7:05 PM	vs. Army	Webster Bank Arena • Bridgeport, Connecticut	Benson	L 1–3	0	4–6–1 (4–4–1)
February 9	5:05 PM	at Army	Tate Rink • West Point, New York	Lush	L 1–2 ^OT	3	4–7–1 (4–5–1)
February 13	7:30 PM	vs. St. Lawrence*	Webster Bank Arena • Bridgeport, Connecticut	Benson	T 2–2 ^OT	0	4–7–2
February 16	5:05 PM	vs. Bentley	Webster Bank Arena • Bridgeport, Connecticut	Benson	L 4–5 ^OT	0	4–8–2 (4–6–1)
February 19	7:35 PM	vs. Holy Cross	Webster Bank Arena • Bridgeport, Connecticut	Lush	W 2–1	0	5–8–2 (5–6–1)
February 20	4:05 PM	at Holy Cross	Webster Bank Arena • Bridgeport, Connecticut	Lush	W 5–3	0	6–8–2 (6–6–1)
Atlantic Hockey Tournament
March 12	5:05 PM	at Army*	Tate Rink • West Point, New York (Quarterfinal Game 1)	Lush	L 0–4	102	6–9–2
March 13	5:05 PM	at Army*	Tate Rink • West Point, New York (Quarterfinal Game 2)	Benson	L 3–4 ^3OT	96	6–10–2
Sacred Heart lost series 0–2
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[4]

Scoring statistics

Name	Position	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	PIM
Marc Johnstone	RW	16	6	10	16	12
Braeden Tuck	F	18	6	10	16	0
Austin Magera	C	17	7	7	14	10
Kevin Lombardi	RW	17	8	4	12	2
Ryan Steele	F	17	4	8	12	12
Marcel Godbout	C/RW	18	5	6	11	6
Patrick Dawson	D	18	1	6	7	10
Grant Anderson	D	18	1	5	6	4
Todd Goehring	F	12	1	3	4	4
Josh Allan	D	13	1	3	4	11
Emil Öhrvall	LW	10	1	2	3	8
Nick Boyagian	F	17	1	2	3	4
Jeppe Urup Mogensen	D	14	0	2	2	4
Evan Wisocky	C	16	0	2	2	0
Alex Bates	F	17	0	2	2	17
Tim Clifton	C	14	1	0	1	21
Michael Gilroy	D	4	0	1	1	0
Derek Contessa	RW	6	0	1	1	2
Adam Tisdale	C	10	0	1	1	0
Cody Hoban	F	10	0	1	1	6
Andrius Kulbis-Marino	D	12	0	1	1	4
John Jaworski	F	16	0	1	1	0
Ryan Doolin	F	4	0	0	0	0
Daniel Petrick	D	5	0	0	0	2
Carson Gallagher	C	5	0	0	0	2
Marcus Joseph	D	6	0	0	0	4
Luke Lush	G	6	0	0	0	0
Max Luukko	D	10	0	0	0	6
Josh Benson	G	14	0	0	0	0
Bench	-	-	-	-	-	6
Total			43	78	121	154

^[5]

Goaltending statistics

Name	Games	Minutes	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals Against	Saves	Shut Outs	SV %	GAA
Josh Benson	14	853	4	7	2	43	383	1	.899	3.02
Luke Lush	6	292	2	3	0	16	125	0	.887	3.29
Empty Net	-	6	-	-	-	0	-	-	-	-
Total	18	1152	6	10	2	59	508	1	.896	3.07

Rankings

Poll	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21 (Final)
USCHO.com	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	-	NR
USA Today	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.^[6]

Awards and honors

Player	Award	Ref
Marc Johnstone	Atlantic Hockey First Team	^[7]
Braeden Tuck	Atlantic Hockey Second Team	^[7]

References

^ "NCAA approves blanket waiver for 2020 fall sports athletes to retain year of eligibility". CBS Sports. August 21, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
^ "DI Council grants waiver to allow transfer student-athletes to compete immediately". NCAA. December 16, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
^ "2020–21 Sacred Heart Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Sacred Heart University Department of Athletics. Retrieved July 27, 2017.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ "Sacred Heart Pioneers (Men) 2020-2021 Schedule and Results". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
^ "Sacred Heart Univ. 2020-2021 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
^ ^a ^b "Atlantic Hockey Announces All-Conference and All-Rookie Winners". Atlantic Hockey. March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2021.

[1] "NCAA approves blanket waiver for 2020 fall sports athletes to retain year of eligibility". CBS Sports. August 21, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.

[2] "DI Council grants waiver to allow transfer student-athletes to compete immediately". NCAA. December 16, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.

[3] "2020–21 Sacred Heart Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Sacred Heart University Department of Athletics. Retrieved July 27, 2017.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[4] "Sacred Heart Pioneers (Men) 2020-2021 Schedule and Results". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved December 5, 2019.

[5] "Sacred Heart Univ. 2020-2021 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved June 20, 2020.

[6] "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.

[AHA2-7] "Atlantic Hockey Announces All-Conference and All-Rookie Winners". Atlantic Hockey. March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2021.

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v t e Sacred Heart Pioneers men's ice hockey
Playing venues	Milford Ice Pavilion (1993–2016) Webster Bank Arena (2016–2023) Martire Family Arena (2023–present)
Head coaches	Pete Downey (1993–1994) John Glynne (1994–1996) Shaun Hannah (1996–2009) C. J. Marottolo (2009–present)
Seasons	1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Conference affiliations	ECAC South (1993–1998) MAAC (1998–2003) Atlantic Hockey Association (2003–2024) Atlantic Hockey America (2024–Present)
Culture & lore	Connecticut Ice
All-time leaders	Pierre-Luc O'Brien (158 Points) Pierre-Luc O'Brien (67 Goals) Brett Magnus (39 Wins)
Sacred Heart University Fairfield, CT