The Sacred Heart men’s hockey team earned its second win over a Big Ten program, defeating Ohio State 5-3 on Friday, Oct. 16, at Martire Family Arena.
Men’s Ice Hockey walking out of locker room prior to running out on the ice.
| Jayden Hunter, Photo Editor |
“It was honestly a surreal feeling. Being at Ohio State last year and then coming to Sacred Heart, there’s been a lot of change in my life over the past few months. I think sometimes you don’t really understand why things happen the way they do until you look back on them. So being able to share that moment with my new teammates was something special,” said sophomore Landen Gunderson, a former Buckeye.
The victory followed Sacred Heart’s first win over a Big Ten program, Penn State, at Martire Family Arena on Oct. 10.
“We have a very positive group. It is still early in the season, but you can tell that the guys just want what is best for each other. We got a group that never gives up no matter what the score is and a group that wants nothing more but to win,” said sophomore Gavin Bryant.
Sacred Heart kept the game scoreless through the opening minutes of the first period while Ohio State had two power-play opportunities. Junior Aiden VanRooyan scored his second goal of the season at 15:31 to give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead.
The momentum continued in the second period when Ashton Adams scored his first collegiate goal to make it 2-0 SHU. Nick Bernardo followed with his first score as a Pioneer, making the score 3-0 SHU. OSU came back strong and scored two goals in the final 9:02 of the second period, leaving the score 3-2 with SHU leading into the third.
Sacred Heart extended its lead in the third period when Gavin Bryant scored his first goal of the season. Ohio State responded with another goal with 2:40 remaining, cutting the deficit to 4-3.
Landen Gunderson clinched the game for the Pioneers with a late empty-net goal to close out a 5-3 win.
“I still think that we’re a work in progress and a lot of phases of our game. I think our power play is showing improvement. We’re breaking through, scoring some power-play goals. We were getting good momentum, but we weren’t scoring, so I was happy to see that our power play scored some goals, and I think that our defensive play has gotten better,” said head coach C.J. Marottolo.
The victory over Ohio State was an important step for Sacred Heart as the team continues to build its momentum early in the season, and a 5-goal victory can hopefully be a building block.
“It was exciting to watch the guys come out with that much energy and get the win. The atmosphere was great, and it was fun seeing the team compete against a Big Ten opponent,” said student-athlete Kira Palmer.
Sacred Heart faced Holy Cross the following weekend, losing 3-1 on Friday, Oct. 23, before earning a 4-3 victory on Saturday, Oct. 24.
Athletic Communications contributed to this article.
