Sacred Heart Pioneers

Sacred Heart Pioneers
University	Sacred Heart University
Conference	MAAC Independent(football) Atlantic Hockey America(men's ice hockey) New England Women's Hockey Alliance(women's ice hockey) Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association(wrestling) ECAC(equestrian) NEIFC(fencing)
NCAA	Division I(FCS)
Athletic director	Judy Ann Riccio
Location	Fairfield, Connecticut
Varsity teams	32
Football stadium	Campus Field
Basketball arena	William H. Pitt Center
Ice hockey arena	Martire Family Arena
Baseball stadium	Veterans Memorial Park
Mascot	Big Red the Pioneer
Nickname	Pioneers
Colors	Red and white
Website	www.sacredheartpioneers

TheSacred Heart Pioneersare the 32 sports teams (14 men, 18 women) representingSacred Heart UniversityinFairfield, Connecticutin intercollegiate athletics. The Pioneers compete in theNCAA Division Iand are members of theMetro Atlantic Athletic Conference(MAAC; the school's primary conference),Atlantic Hockey,Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association,andNew England Women's Hockey Alliance.

History

Nearly 800 students participate in the university's 31 athletic teams (17 female teams and 14 male teams) along with more than 500 students who participate in 23 Club Sports.

Thefootball teamplays at theFootball Championship Subdivisionlevel and claims an FCS title in 2001. Their biggest rivalry is with the oldest public university in Connecticut,Central Connecticut State University,in what has been dubbed the Constitution State Rivalry.

Themen's basketball teamwon theDivision II national titlein 1986.

Thewomen's basketball teamwon the Northeast Conference regular season title five times and the conference tournament three times and earned three trips to the NCAA Tournament.

Thebaseball teamhas won fourNortheast Conference tournamenttitles and made four NCAA tournament appearances, formerly led bySuper Bowl XVIIchampion,Nick Giaquinto.The four conference titles are tied for the most in the conference.

The men's golf team won the Northeast Conference title in May 2008, 2009 and 2011.

The men's fencing team won the Northeast Conference title five years in a row (2010–14) and was ranked #9 in 2011.

On February 21, 2013, the Sacred Heart University athletics department hired longtimeMajor League Baseballplayer and managerBobby Valentineas the athletic director.

On June 8, 2021, the Sacred Heart University athletics department named Judy Ann Riccio as its interim athletic director, replacing Bobby Valentine who took a leave of absence.

Themen's ice hockey programcompetes in theAtlantic Hockey Americaconference, and thewomen's hockey programcompetes in the newly-createdNew England Women's Hockey Alliance(NEWHA) and won the conference's initial tournament title in the 2017-18 season, beating out institutions such as theCollege of the Holy CrossandSaint Anselm College.

The wrestling team competes in theEastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Associationand the field hockey team competes in theMetro Atlantic Athletic Conference.Men's volleyball competed in theEastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Associationthrough the 2022 season, after which the NEC began sponsoring that sport; however, SHU will return to the EIVA after the 2024 season.

On September 21, 2020, Sacred Heart announced the addition of a women's wrestling program, the second for a Division I institution (the first beingPresbyterian College) and the first in the Northeast region. The program started in the fall of 2021.

Sacred Heart earned their first NCAA in lacrosse, winning the MAAC tournament and getting the automatic conference bid to the2024 NCAA Division I men's lacrosse tournament.

Sports sponsored

Men's sports	Women's sports
Baseball	Basketball
Basketball	Cross country
Cross country	Equestrian
Football	Field hockey
Ice hockey	Golf
Lacrosse	Ice hockey
Soccer	Lacrosse
Tennis	Rowing
Track and field†	Rugby
Volleyball	Soccer
Wrestling	Softball
	Swimming and diving
	Tennis
	Track and field†
	Volleyball
	Wrestling (2021)
Co-ed sports
Fencing
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor

Club sports

Currently there are twenty-eight club sports active on campus. The active clubs are:

• Baseball
• Men's Basketball
• Women's Basketball
• Bowling
• Dance Team
• Field Hockey
• Figure Skating
• Gymnastics
• Golf
• Esports
• Men's Football
• Men's Ice Hockey
• Men's Lacrosse
• Women's Lacrosse
• Men's Rugby

• Running
• Sailing
• Chess
• Men's Soccer
• Women's Soccer
• Softball
• Men's Swimming
• Tennis
• Ultimate Frisbee
• Men's Volleyball
• Women's Volleyball
• Weightlifting

External links

• Official website