- Chris Jastrzembski
Previewing Sacred Heart's 2022 men's lacrosse schedule
Updated: Nov 11, 2021
The Sacred Heart Pioneers are the seventh team in our 2022 men’s college lacrosse schedule preview series and the first team from the NEC. Sacred Heart finished 1-12 overall in 2021 and 0-8 in NEC play. The Pioneers failed to qualify for the NEC Tournament for the first time since 2016.
Here's their entire 2022 spring schedule:
WHO'S IN?
Lafayette Leopards (2/19)
Quinnipiac Bobcats (2/25)
Providence Friars (3/8)
UMass Lowell River Hawks (3/12)
WHO'S OUT?
Stony Brook Seawolves (20-8 L)
Holy Cross Crusaders (11-10 L)
CIRCLE THESE DATES
2/19 at Lafayette: Sacred Heart had its worst season since going 2-14 in 2016. Kudos to Jon Basti for making the Pioneers a contender for an NEC title despite not advancing to the conference championship game. Plenty of players such as Max Tuttle, Joe Saggese, and Logan Liljeberg helped that cause. But none of those players are on campus, with Liljeberg and Drew Edwards moving on to different schools as grad transfers (UMass and Providence respectively). Sal Miccio seems to be the next big goal scorer on campus. Good way to get some sort of momentum is against Lafayette, but they appeared to take a step forward late last season under Pat Myers.
3/1 vs. Fairfield: Why this isn't a yearly matchup is beyond me. Before taking on each other in 2019 and 2021, the last time these two teams met was back in 2005 in Boca Raton, Florida. They are separated by five miles. It makes for a perfect backyard rivalry, especially if programs want to limit nonconference travel. Fairfield took the last two meetings, including a 14-8 decision a year ago.
3/26 vs. Mount St. Mary's: Last year's meeting featured what lacrosse is known for, being a game of runs. It started with both teams trading five-goal runs and ended with Mount taking home a two-goal win. Similar to the Pioneers, the Mountaineers are also losing some key pieces of their team to the transfer portal or graduation, notably Luke Frankeny (Richmond) and Bryan McIntosh (Hofstra).
4/2 at Wagner: The Seahawks outscored the Pioneers in the second half of last year's meeting, 8-2. Danny Brady also made 20 saves for Wagner in a big win for that program under Bill McCutcheon. Sacred Heart doesn't want to get bumped down in the conference pecking order by Wagner.