Bowling Green Falcons Edge Pioneers Late in Intense Ice Breaker Opener

By: J.J. Pavlick | Fairfield, CT | October 9, 2026 |

A furious third-period rally wasn’t quite enough for the Sacred Heart University men’s ice hockey team on Friday night. Hosting the prestigious 30th annual Ice Breaker Tournament at the Martire Family Arena, the Pioneers dropped a tight 3-2 regular season opener to the Bowling Green State University Falcons.

The Pioneers opened their regular season campaign looking to build on mixed preseason results, which featured a tough 3-1 loss to No. 20 Merrimack followed by a commanding 2-0 shutout victory over the Canadian side Carleton Ravens. However, despite a resilient showing in the final frame against a physical Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) opponent, a late power-play tally by the visitors sealed the opening-night result. Head coach C.J. Marottolo framed the night as a very good college hockey game that his team ultimately lost late, choosing to focus heavily on how much the group grew despite the scoreline going the wrong way.

Shaky First Period Puts Pioneers on Heels

The Falcons looked like the sharper team out of the gate, jumping all over the Pioneers through the opening 11 minutes of play. Dominik Rymon got Bowling Green on the board first at the 9:06 mark, rifling a one-timer from inside the right circle past Sacred Heart netminder Ajeet Gundarah, assisted by Noah Morneau and Brandon Whynot. Coach Marottolo admitted frankly after the game that he “didn’t love our start,” as the initial execution fell below the team’s standard.

Sacred Heart earned its first power play at 10:55 when Ty Cheveldayoff was sent to the box for roughing, but the Pioneers were unable to capitalize. The special teams script flipped drastically minutes later when SHU found themselves in a disastrous 5-on-3 hole. Emmanuel Vermette was called for interference at 13:17, followed quickly by a Liam Lesakowski tripping minor at 13:36. The Falcons capitalized on the two-man advantage at 14:58, as Tyler Hotson buried a pass from Winnipeg Jets prospect Connor Levis and Breck McKinley to push the score to 2-0.

The Buttazzoni brothers would quickly answer to get the Pioneers on the score sheet. At 17:09 of the opening frame, Diego Buttazzoni slammed the puck home from inside the slot at even strength, finishing off quick dishes from Gavin Bryant and his brother Mirko Buttazzoni to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Things grew incredibly chippy with just 38 seconds remaining in the period. A massive scrum erupted along the boards behind the Falcons’ net after Bowling Green’s Brandon Whynott was leveled by a heavy hit from Taos Jordan. Following an official review for a potential major penalty upgrade, Jordan was assessed a two-minute minor for roughing. Bowling Green saw two players head to the box on the same sequence—Levis for cross-checking and Evan Bushy for roughing—handing the Pioneers another power play chance that ultimately went scoreless. By the end of the frame, SHU was outshot 14-8.

Second-Period Response

The middle frame turned into a grueling, physical goaltending duel where tempers continued to flare, but it also marked the exact moment the Pioneers inverted the game’s momentum. Marottolo observed that by the second period, his players “started to really compete, started investing in the game.”

Halfway through the period, the officials paused the game to review yet another thunderous hit from Jordan behind the Sacred Heart net, this time involving Tyler Hotson. We asked C.J. regarding the tradeoff of Jordan’s high aggression occasionally putting the team in tough spots, but Marottolo accepted the style plainly: “I’d rather have someone be aggressive than not.” The coach noted that Jordan plays hard with his heart on his sleeve, adding he had absolutely “no problem with the way Jordan played tonight. “ The hit was ruled clean, and Bowling Green lost their timeout on the failed challenge.

The physical toll continued to rise with 3:45 remaining in the period when Diego Buttazzoni took a hard hit along the boards, drawing a charging minor against Whynott. Sacred Heart immediately challenged the play for head contact, but the ruling on the ice stood as a minor penalty, costing the Pioneers their timeout as well.

The Pioneers’ power play units continued to look stagnant, failing to find a heartbeat on the subsequent advantage. The unit finished the second period struggling to generate clean entries, further compounding a slow special teams start for a Sacred Heart program picked in the preseason to win the Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) conference title for a third consecutive year.

Third-Period Comeback Falls Short

Bowling Green continued to dictate the physical flow early in the third, highlighted by a heavy hit in front of the benches on Pioneers captain Jake Bongo. Trailing 2-1 and down 25-17 in shots on goal with 15:17 left on the clock, Sacred Heart desperately needed a spark.

A sloppy defensive zone turnover at the blue line by Aiden VanRooyan nearly gifted the Falcons a breakaway to extend their lead, requiring a fundamental defensive recovery to keep the deficit at one. Head coach C.J. Marottolo will undoubtedly demand cleaner play from his defensive corps moving forward, especially with a massive conference target on their backs and a dangerous Army program looming in the AHA landscape.

With ten minutes left, the Pioneers finally found their footing, launching a relentless assault on the Bowling Green crease. Falcons goaltender Tyler Palmer stood tall under a flurry of Grade-A chances from the slot, but the dam finally broke with 10:54 remaining in regulation. Catching the Falcons deep on a swift 2-on-1 rush, Devin Phillips slipped a beautiful pass to Diego Buttazzoni, who beat Palmer cleanly to tie the game at 2-2. The third period also featured an explosive sequence from freshman forward Marco, showcasing the high-end skill that the coaching staff expects to see expand as the long journey of the season unfolds.

The elation was short-lived. Just minutes later, the Pioneers’ blue line fell asleep, forcing Gundarah to make a spectacular breakaway save against Rymon to protect the tie. However, during the play, VanRooyan was called for a costly slashing minor with 7:56 left. Bowling Green immediately gave back part of the advantage just 28 seconds later when Brayden Crampton picked up a tripping minor, setting up a brief sequence of 4-on-4 action.

Tide Shifts But Falls Late

Shortly after the teams returned to full strength, Mirko Buttazzoni put on an absolute masterclass in puck possession. Dancing around Falcons defenders with ease, he killed valuable time and completely shifted the game’s energy, drawing another penalty to put the Pioneers back on the advantage. The dazzle from the sophomore forward completely awoke his teammates, sending the Pioneers buzzing through the offensive zone on a relentless attack.

Unfortunately, the momentum shift didn’t reflect on the scoreboard. Sacred Heart’s power play finished a frustrating 0-for-5 on the evening. Marottolo maintained a patient view of the unit’s struggles, calling it “a work in progress” with the right intentions. He noted they generated great zone time and created “an unbelievable look, backdoor, open net” that they just failed to convert. “Maybe the rhetoric will change after that if we pop that in,” the coach mused.

Conversely, Bowling Green’s power play proved lethal, finishing the night 2-for-4. Following a late holding call on Chase Ramsay, the Falcons set up in the Pioneers’ zone. Brody Waters struck the final blow on the man advantage at the 18:15 mark, burying a sequence from the right side of the slot off a feed from Levis and Morneau to secure the 3-2 win and hand the Falcons their first victory of the season.

Quick Turnaround for Hungry Teams

Despite dropping the opener, Marottolo found plenty of positives in his team’s resilience, stating he was proud of the effort because the squad “showed a lot of fight back there in the third period” and he “saw a lot of good tonight.”

There is no time to dwell on the loss. The Pioneers face a rapid turnaround tomorrow night at Martire Family Arena to wrap up the tournament against No. 17 Penn State. The Nittany Lions will enter Fairfield equally hungry for a rebound after dropping their own season opener in a 3-1 defeat against the No. 16 UConn Huskies in Storrs, CT.

Marottolo is keeping his tactical focus entirely internal for the quick turnaround. He admitted he hasn’t watched film on Penn State’s new roster yet since tonight was their season opener, and the staff plans to dig into the tape overnight. The singular, explicit technical mandate from the head coach is ensuring the team avoids another sluggish opening frame.

Whether star netminder Ajeet Gundarah will get the nod to start on back-to-back nights remains an unresolved question. Marottolo concluded by noting he needs to talk directly with both AJ and the goaltending coach before making a final decision on tomorrow’s starter.