No. 17 Penn State hockey will play the second leg of the Ice Breaker Tournament tonight when they face Sacred Heart tonight. The Nittany Lions are looking to rebound from a 3-1 loss to UConn on Friday night where the offense put up 44 shots but could only find the back of the net once.
How To Watch
Who: Sacred Heart Pioneers
When: Saturday, October 10
Where: Martire Family Arena, Fairfield, CT
Time: 7pm
TV: FloHockey
Radio: Penn State Sports Network
Projected Lineup
Shea Van Olm-Dane Dowiak-Justin Poirier
Luke Misa-Reese Laubach-Shea Busch
Justin Larose-Kale Dach-Andrew Kuzma
Kaden Pitre-Keaton Peters-Braedon Ford
Jackson Smith-Mac Gadowsky
Casey Aman-Nolan Collins
Ethan Weber-Caedan Herrington
Josh Fleming
Ryder Fetterolf
Opponent Preview
Sacred Heart lost the AHA Championship Game to Bentley last year to narrowly miss the NCAA Tournament. The Pioneers are replacing seven of their top eight scorers and 70% of their total goals, making this a significant rebuild for a program that has finished above .500 two straight seasons for the first time since 2005-06 and 2006-07. Gavin Bryant (10 goals, 11 assists in 2025-26) is the leading returning scorer for the offense. Sacred Heart lost 3-2 in overtime to Bowling Green last night and went 0 for 5 on the power play. This should be a more manageable offense for Penn State to face than UConn.
Defensively, Sacred Heart is a bit of a mixed bag. Aiden VanRooyan is the best returning defenseman on the roster after putting up 16 points in 39 games last season. The Pioneers gave up 30 shots on goal per game last season, but against one of the weakest schedules in the NCAA. Ajeet Gundarah was one of the more overlooked goaltenders last season, posting a .928 save percentage and 2.09 GAA in 22 starts. He was the best goaltender in the AHA last season and has shown the ability to steal games for the Pioneers.
Last year, Sacred Heart was 22.9% on the power play (16th in NCAA) and 86.7% on the penalty kill (6th in NCAA). Penn State’s power play will need to strike tonight after a sluggish performance on Friday.
Prediction
Penn State is significantly more talented at all three levels of the roster. The Nittany Lions put up a ton of great chances last night but could not convert. The dam will break eventually, and I like their chances to win a get-right game on the road before Quinnipiac comes to town next Friday.
Penn State 6, Sacred Heart 2