“I’m fine. My wife tells me that I’m hard-headed,” reads a text from Sacred Heart coach C.J. Marottolo.
The Pioneers’ coach caught a puck to the forehead last Friday in a 4-2 win at Robert Morris. I was watching the game and later texted him to see how he was doing.
Marottolo was in good spirits as he relayed the incident when I spoke to him on Tuesday.
“Guys were battling for the puck near our bench,” he said. “I was standing where the players sit, and the puck came flying out. It was fast, and I’m not as quick as I used to be.”
Six stitches by the Robert Morris trainer after the game did the trick, and SHU came back with a 3-1 victory on Saturday to sweep the weekend and get six big points in the Atlantic Hockey standings.
After an 0-3-0 start, Marottolo’s team is 7-2-0 over the next nine games, with both losses by a single goal.
“The structure has gotten better,” said Marottolo. “We lost the first three, then we’re looking at getting swept by RIT (after a 4-2 loss on Oct. 20). That was a hard place to be. But we won (5-2) the second night, and that was a big turning point for us.”
Since then, the Pioneers have captured 19 of a maximum 21 league points and are alone in first place in Atlantic Hockey, leading second-place Rochester Institute of Technology by five points.
Marottolo’s team, which has five freshmen and eight transfers, has come together quickly.
“We’ve had a lot of new faces, transfers and freshmen,” he said. “It can take some time to teach the system and how we want to play.”
While the octet of transfers brings the experience of over 450 career games to SHU, sometimes it takes a while for new players to adjust. Marottolo says this group learns fast.
“We’re at the point now where there’s some familiarity and understanding of how we want to play, zone-to-zone,” he said. “That’s allowed us to play faster, more in blocks of five.”
Marottolo gives returning fifth-year players Braeden Tuck and Kevin Lombardi credit for pulling the team together quickly.
“We have some great leadership,” he said. “They’re a big part of what we’re trying to build. We’re very happy that (Tuck and Lombardi) decided to come back.
“Guys have found their roles. Each line has an identity in how they want to play, and that’s helped.”
Six of the Pioneers’ top eight scorers are seniors or grad students, led by Rensselaer transfer T.J. Walsh (seven goals, eight assists).
Rookie forward Jake Bongo has a pair of goals so far, including the game-winner on Saturday, a breakaway tally midway through the third period.
“We’re getting support up and down the lineup with guys scoring timely goals,” said Marottolo.
The Pioneers are also getting support in net from sophomore Chase Clark, who has played every minute so far, recording a 7-5 record with a 2.35 GAA and a .939 save percentage.
Clark transferred in from national champions Quinnipiac, where he saw limited action behind All-American Yaniv Perets.
“He’s been great for us,” said Marottolo. “It’s an adjustment to play every night, both Friday and Saturday. But he’s grown into that role.”
The Pioneers travel to American International this weekend. The Yellow Jackets are currently in sixth place but have the second-best winning percentage in the conference, behind Sacred Heart.
“They’ve been the standard in this league for a while,” said Marottolo. “Their goaltending has been very good. They manage the puck well.
“It will be a great test. It’s our last (conference) games before the break so we’ll be sitting on this for a while.”
