The 2022–23 Sacred Heart Pioneers men's ice hockey season was the 30th season of play for the program, the 25th at the Division I level, and the

20th 20 (twenty; Roman numeral XX) is the natural number following 19 and preceding 21. A group of twenty units may also be referred to as a score. In mathematics *20 is a pronic number. *20 is a tetrahedral number as 1, 4, 10, 20. *20 is the ba ...

in the

Atlantic Hockey The Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) is an NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey conference which operates primarily in the northeastern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference. Unlike several other c ...

conference. The Pioneers represented Sacred Heart University and were coached by C. J. Marottolo, in his 14th season.

Season

The biggest development for the program was the completion of the Martire Family Arena. While the new arena had significantly less seating capacity, the chief advantage was being the first on-campus home for the team. Not only would this allow greater access for the program but it would also be much easier for the student body to attend games. Because the opening for the rink wouldn't be until January 2023, the team had to play the first half of the season at the

Total Mortgage Arena Total Mortgage Arena (formerly The Arena at Harbor Yard and Webster Bank Arena) is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena in downtown Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States. It is the home venue of the New York Islanders' AHL farm team, the Bridgepor ...

. Perhaps in anticipation of their new venue, Sacred Heart began the season well. While incumbent starter Justin Robbins began the season in goal, he was soon replaced by Luke Lush. With stable goaltending, the offense kicked into gear and pushed the Pioneers to a 6–2–1 record by early November. The hot start not only had the team at the top of the conference standings but also had them above the water line for an NCAA tournament berth (a rare thing for Atlantic Hockey). In mid-November, Sacred Heart had a showdown with the other conference leader, RIT. Unfortunately, at that exact moment the Pioneers' offense dried up and the team scored just 4 goals over their next 5 games. When they finally ended their slump, Sacred Heart had slid into the middle of the standings and was in the bottom half of the national rankings. Even by winning their next five games, including a surprising upset of

Northeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

, Sacred Heart remained well away from an at-large bid and would likely have to win their conference tournament if it were to make the NCAA tournament. After the winter break, with construction on schedule, Sacred Heart christened its new building by hosting #20

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

. With more than 4,000 in attendance, Sacred Heart lost the match but were still able to push the Eagles into overtime. Figures remained strong in the new building and the Pioneers saw at least 4,000 people in 6 of their final 7 home games. Unfortunately for the Pioneers, while the building was mostly full the product on the ice was a little more inconsistent. Sacred Heart ended up going 3–5–1 in the last month of the season, including losing the season series to American International, and ended up 3rd in the conference. The Pioneers began the postseason with a win over

Niagara Niagara may refer to: Geography Niagara Falls and nearby places In both the United States and Canada *Niagara Falls, the famous waterfalls in the Niagara River *Niagara River, part of the U.S.–Canada border *Niagara Escarpment, the cliff ov ...

, however, everything went sour afterwards. After opening the scoring in the second game, Sacred Heart went the final 53 minutes without a goal and lost 1–4 despite firing 38 shots on goal. The offense was a bit better in the rubber match but the penalty kill imploded. The Purple Eagles scored three power play goals, the final being the eventual game-winner, and ran the Pioneers out of their own building. It was a disappointing end to what had once been a successful season.

Departures

Recruiting

Roster

Standings

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=12 style=";" , Exhibition , - !colspan=12 style=";" , Regular Season , - !colspan=12 style=";" , , - !colspan=12 style=";" ,

Scoring statistics

Goaltending statistics

Rankings

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.

Awards and honors

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2022-23 Sacred Heart Pioneers men's ice hockey season Sacred Heart Pioneers men's ice hockey seasons

Sacred Heart The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus ( la, Cor Jesu Sacratissimum) is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devo ...