(Photo Courtesy of Sacred Heart Athletics)

The Sacred Heart Pioneers are the seventh DI program and first in the NEC to release their 2022 men’s lacrosse schedule, doing so on Sunday afternoon. The Pioneers are coming off a 2021 campaign in which they went 1-12 (0-8 NEC) against a conference-heavy schedule.

Pioneers’ 2022 Schedule:

Date	Home	Away	Notes
2/12	Hofstra	Sacred Heart
2/19	Lafayette	Sacred Heart
2/25	Sacred Heart	Quinnipiac
3/1	Sacred Heart	Fairfield
3/8	Providence	Sacred Heart
3/12	UMass Lowell	Sacred Heart
3/19	Sacred Heart	Hobart	NEC
3/26	Sacred Heart	Mount St. Mary’s	NEC
4/2	Wagner	Sacred Heart	NEC
4/9	Sacred Heart	Merrimack	NEC
4/12	Bryant	Sacred Heart	NEC
4/16	Saint Joseph’s	Sacred Heart	NEC
4/23	Sacred Heart	LIU	NEC

New Opponents

Lafayette, Providence, Quinnipiac, UMass Lowell

Team’s Dropped

Holy Cross, Stony Brook

Key Games

2/12 @ Hofstra: The Pioneers open the season on the road against the Hofstra Pride, who they have gone 0-12 all-time against and fell 13-6 against last season. In last year’s contest, Sacred Heart held a 6-4 lead early in the third before the Pride churned out nine consecutive goals to close the game out. With a newer look, especially on offense, for both teams in 22, things could remain interesting for much longer and, perhaps, go the opposite way.

3/26 vs Mount St. Mary’s: Mount St. Mary’s barley eeked out a win over the Pioneers last season, winning 14-12 despite a fierce Sacred Heart comeback following an 0-5 start to the contest. With both teams expected to be fairly green at multiple spots, and the fact that each of their past three meetings have been decided by an average of 2.3 goals, we could see another close contest between these NEC foes in 2022.

4/2 @ Wagner: Sacred Heart took a 5-1 lead against the Seahawks early in the second quarter and found themselves ahead, 7-3, at the half. However, Wagner outscored the Pioneers 8-2 in the second half to secure the 11-9 victory. It marked Wagner’s first victory over Sacred Heart since 2016 and third all-time as the Pioneers lead the series 14-3. Sacred Heart will surely be looking to get back in the win column against the Seahawks this spring.

4/30 vs LIU: The Pioneers end the season against the team they faced more than any last season as they played the Sharks three times (one non-conference game and two conference games). Sacred Heart won the first meeting 12-10 thanks to a game-sealing three-goal run late in the fourth. They then fell 13-10 against the Sharks in their second meeting of the year and 13-8 in their third.