This past winter, Sacred Heart University (SHU) opened the doors to the Martire Family Arena, a 4,000-capacity state of the art hockey arena that lies on SHU’s West Campus. This arena is home to both the men and women’s Division 1 hockey teams here at SHU.
In their inaugural season playing in the Martire Family Arena, Sacred Heart’s men’s hockey team went a respectable 17-17-3, losing to Niagara in the Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals, making this was the first year they finished at .500 since 2019-2020.
During the offseason, they were able to sign eight transfer students, five being graduate students and three who will transfer in as sophomores. Together, these eight players bring 451 games of collegiate experience to the team and are eager to help the program flourish.
Goalkeeper Chase Clark, who previously played for Quinnipiac, has joined Sacred Heart’s men’s hockey team.
Source: Instagram, @shuhockey
Liam Izyk is joining SHU’s men’s hockey team after transferring from Boston College.
Source: Instagram, @shuhockey
Head coach CJ Marottolo shared his thoughts on what these transfers mean to this program.
“The combination of our incoming first years and our transfers will continue to push our program to new heights,” said Marottolo. “We could not be more pleased with how all the new players arrived in shape and in a very competitive mindset.”
“Our transfers will give us tremendous experience that will not only help the younger players but the coaches as well,” he said.
The new-look Pioneers play their first exhibition game at home against Merrimack on Oct. 7, in what they hope will be the start of a special season.
“Our expectations are simple,” said Marottolo. “We want to leave this program in a better place than when we started on Sept. 1. We want to be a team that our fans and supporters will be extremely proud of!”
Sacred Heart Athletics contributed to this article.
