For the 2015 spring the Sacred Heart Pioneers look to get back to the NEC semifinals and hopefully qualify for a bid in the NCAA tournament. Jon Basti, the coach of the Pioneers, looks for a better improvement for this spring season as last year wasn’t the most impressing with a 5 and 9 record and losing in the semi finals to Bryant.
One thing the Pioneers lose is a lot of senior leadership from last year’s class. Look for Long Island native Alex Dodge to have a good junior campaign from the midfield. Last year he was third in points with 29 so look for him to run the show on the midfield.
The Pioneers also have another big time player from the same town as Dodge which is Brian Masi. The freshman last year had 25 points just a little behind of his hometown teammate. This could be a dynamic duo for the pioneers because of the experience they have together before college.
In the pipes for Sacred Heart will most likely be Jon Flood. The Long Island native was the backup last year who saw some good play time. The senior is coming off of a 0.539 save percentage as the backup. This will be his senior season so all the pressure will be on him to step up and lead the team to glory.
Questions for the Pioneers will be the close defense and the whole total offense. In order for Sacred Heart to get back to being the best of Connecticut and the best in the conference they need the offense to come together in the fall and develop that chemistry every good offense has. The defense needs to see who will be the guy to step up and lead them in the trenches. It all starts from the defense and I believe they can be a good team this year in Division 1 if the defense plays as one.
