Sacred Heart hot at the right time
As the hottest team in Atlantic Hockey, Sacred Heart feels it has as good a chance as anyone to win a league championship, something it has never done. Twice before the Pioneers reached the finals, in 2004 and 2010, but came up short of capturing the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
And as the perennial underdog conference has proven — three first-round upsets over powerhouse programs in the past four years — anything can happen once it gets into the NCAA field of 16.
Alas, it’s a long road to the big dance. Sacred Heart coach C.J. Marottolo isn’t looking beyond his team’s quarterfinal opponent, RIT. The best-of-3 series begins Wednesday in Bridgeport and runs until Friday, if necessary, a rare mid-week affair due to a concert by ventriloquist/comedian Jeff Dunham scheduled for Saturday night at Webster Bank Arena.
As the fourth and fifth seeds, both teams were idle last weekend, making the Wednesday series start possible. Neither wanted the series to be interrupted by a potential off day on Saturday, so they’ll avoid any chance of that happening by starting early.
There’s good reason for the Pioneers to be confident. They’ve beaten six of the seven remaining teams in the field since Jan. 19, Bent- ley the lone exception only because they wrapped up their season series back in November.
Sacred Heart (14-11-3) went 7-1-1 in the month of February and is 10-3-2 since Jan. 19.
“We have a lot of depth,” says Marottolo, a North Haven native in his 10th season at Sacred Heart. “Whatever lineup we put out there, one through 12, they’re all contributing. If one line isn’t getting it done
on a certain night, another one steps up. We have balanced scoring and our defensive group has really come together at the right time.”
The two-month hot streak, which includes a victory over UConn, has been spearheaded by a pair of freshmen. Forward Austin Magera was named Atlantic Hockey rookie of the month in February and leads the team with 13 goals and 25 points. Josh Benson won starting goaltender duty midseason and is tied for the national lead for most wins (9) by a goaltender since Jan. 19.
Magera, a native of Suwanee, Georgia, posted strong offensive numbers at Lawrence Academy but managed only 14 points in 41 games during his lone season in the United States Hockey League.
He’s quickly emerged as Sacred Heart’s most dangerous scoring threat. Seven of his 13 goals have some since Feb. 1, and his six gamewinning goals are tied for the national lead. Among his biggest were an overtime winner to beat RIT on Feb. 16 and two in an upset of first-place American International on Feb. 28.
“He’s really taken off since Christmas,” Marottolo said. “He’s comfortable in all situations. He attacks the game and in big moments his level of play rises.”
Benson, who spent the past two seasons playing Junior hockey in Fairbanks, Alaska, wrested the goalie job from senior Brett Magnus, who’d played in 95 games as a three-year starter for Sacred Heart.
Postseason success will rely on depth. Sacred Heart has eleven players with at least 10 points, including defenseman Mike Lee (4-1418), a Hamden resident in his first season since transferring from Vermont, and Jason Cotton (8-11-19), who transferred in from Northeastern two years ago.
Marottolo says it’s the most talented team he’s had since 2009-10, the last time Sacred Heart advanced past the league quarterfinals.
“My assistant coaches have done a great job identifying guys who fit how we want to play, and they get most of the credit for that,” Marottolo said. “We’re trying to lay great class on top of great class, and we’re seeing the fruits of their labor now. We’ve hit our stride at the right time and they really believe in one another.”
BRACKETOLOGY
Here’s how the NCAA tournament field might look based on today’s PairWise Rankings. The official brackets will be announced in two weeks, so the field of 16 is getting close to being set.
We did some finagling to keep teams closer to home, including a switch of Quinnipiac’s first-round opponent from Cornell to Providence.
Providence regional: 4. Minnesota-Duluth vs. 14. Harvard; 5. Quinnipiac vs.
9. Providence
Manchester regional: 2. UMass vs. 15. Notre Dame;
8. Northeastern vs. 12. Cornell
Allentown regional: 3. Minnesota State vs. 13. Western Michigan; 6. Ohio State vs. 11. Clarkson
Fargo regional: 1. St. Cloud State vs. 16. AIC; 7. Denver vs. 10. Arizona State
SINKING SAINTS
St. Lawrence took Dartmouth to three games in the ECAC first-round before an 8-0 loss ended its season. It was the 29th loss for the once-proud Saints, which set a league record for losses in a single season, and comes a year after losing what was a program-record 27 games.
Third-year coach Mark Morris has two years remaining on his contract. Whether he’s around to fulfill them remains to be seen. In Several high-profile players have transferred out of the program since taking over, including Kyle Hayton, one of the top goalies in the country, and Jacob Pritchard, who has 39 points for No. 2 UMass.