Ice hockey knocks off Pioneers in season finale

FAIRFIELD, Connecticut – The American International College ice hockey team closed the 2022-23 regular season in style, defeating Sacred Heart University 5-0 at the Martire Family Arena on Saturday, February 25 in Atlantic Hockey Association play.

AIC ends the AHA campaign second in the league at 14-8-4-3-2-0 for 47 points, and has an overall record of 17-12-2.

AIC's first goal was a lesson in hard work, as Julius Janhonen knocked the puck loose along the wall and Blake Bennet made a strong play to keep it in at the line before swinging it back down the right side. He then found Janhonen cutting to the net, and he tucked a backhander under the crossbar at 9:20 for his eighth of the season.

That score stood until a three goal burst over the middle of the second period. Shortly after the end of a power play, Dustin Manz dished the puck back to the middle of the blue line for Evan Stella, who took a slapshot that Alexander Malinowski deflected home at the netfront for his seventh of the year at 7:01. The Pioneers challenged the goal, but it was upheld.

The third AIC goal was an outstanding effort from Nicholas Cardelli. Nico Somerville began a rush for AIC with a pass from behind his own net to Cardelli, who burst through the middle, executing a give-and-go with Oscar Geschwind before splitting the defense and tucking the puck inside the right post at 15:01 for his 10th of the season.

AIC's final goal of the frame came courtesy of a deflection, as Brett Callahan kept a shot that had gone wide by Stella in at the right point and quickly passed it to Malinowski in the slot. The rookie had the puck knocked off of his stick but it bounced right to Timofei Khokhlachev, who threw it at the net, hitting a Pioneers defender and then the twine at 17:01 for his sixth of the season and putting the game essentially out of reach.

Brian Kramer put a cherry on top of it all early in the third period, swiping the puck away just inside AIC's blueline and flying up ice before shoving the puck underneath Luke Lush for his sixth of the season at 3:32.

At the other end of the rink, Jarrett Fiske stood tall when called upon, rejecting all 22 shots he faced for his second shutout of the season. He closed league play with a .931 save percentage and 1.91 goals against average, tops among all qualifying goalkeepers in the AHA by the league standard of at least 33 percent of team minutes played.

The Yellow Jackets now turn their attention to the postseason. As the second seed, they will host in-state rival and seventh-seeded College of the Holy Cross in a best-of-three AHA Quarterfinal series on March 3-5 at the MassMutual Center. Puck drop for all three games is slated for 1:05 p.m., and tickets are available for purchase through the MassMutual Center box office or by visiting www.aictix.com.