Sacred Heart Surging Late In Atlantic Hockey Standings Fight
Sacred Heart Surging Late In Atlantic Hockey Standings Fight
The three-game winning surge by Sacred Heart has been led by transfer Neil Shea, who collected two goals and four assists in that span.
The race for a first-round bye remains tight in Atlantic Hockey as late-season matchups bring significant point-swings and nearly every point lost goes directly to a standings rival.
Sitting third in the standings, Sacred Heart is on a current three-game winning streak with nine consecutive points taken. Their recent play has earned them 35 points, just two shy of Canisius for a potential second-place finish. Army West Point sits below them, also with 35 points, but on the losing end of the tiebreaker.
The Pioneers have just four games remaining and their fate is in their own hands with this week’s series at Canisius and a regular season-ending series with Army next week. Their upcoming series with Canisius will be their first match-up since 2019-20, when the Golden Griffins took the season series 1-0-1. Despite roster turnover since their last meeting, the fight for the standings has the upcoming series chalked up as must-watch hockey.
Men's Ice Hockey Begins Series at Canisius Friday https://t.co/EXv5JAsIB6
— SHU Pioneers (@SHUBigRed) February 17, 2022
Catch both games live, right here on FloHockey, this weekend as well as all Atlantic Hockey action leading up to and through the conference playoffs.
Six Atlantic Hockey programs earn a first-round bye for the postseason, which offers a rest period, while the best-of-three series the bottom four programs play.
The three-game winning surge by Sacred Heart has been led by transfer Neil Shea, who collected two goals and four assists in that span. Following two years and 49 total games with Northeastern, where he accumulated just two goals and six points—Shea is scoring and fits right in with other transfers making a direct impact with their new program.
Shea currently leads the Pioneers with 24 points (8 G, 16 A) in 30 games. After three assists over his first nine games this season, he has not gone more than one game without hitting the scoresheet and has been held pointless in just five of his past 21 outings.
Shea jump-started the Pioneers' recent play with a three-point effort (2 G, 1 A) to defeat Holy Cross before adding three assists in the Pioneers’ sweep of Bentley last week.
Running their most consistent offense of the season, regarding both production and quality of competition, Shea has led the program to average four goals per-game to help offset an on-and-off team defensive effort that can be described as lackadaisical.
With three of their final four games taking place on the road, the Pioneers’ 8-9-3 road record may be some cause for concern, but the Griffins’ 7-6 home record could make for a moot point with what’s on the line, recent play, and both programs’ season-long fluctuation in play.
Don’t miss a second of the action when you can catch the Pioneers visit the Griffins live, right here on FloHockey, this weekend.
Have a question or a comment for Jacob Messing? You can find him on Twitter @Jacob_Messing.
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