Pierre-Luc O'Brien blasted a shot past the Yellow Jackets goaltender, and with the way the star pumped his fist, he knew that "Pierre-Luc poster night" would be a wild one.

Fresh off escaping the opposition's comeback efforts in West Springfield Friday night, the men's hockey team cruised for an 8-1 victory over American International College Saturday night in Milford.

After O'Brien got the Pioneers' engine started only 1:41 into the game, forward Bear Trapp sent a wrist shot into the back of the net just over two minutes later.

AIC decided to switch goaltenders, and the buzz inside the Milford Ice Pavilion suggested that the game was all but over. Forward Eric Giosa broke in the Yellow Jackets new goalie as he deflected a Peter Ferraro slap shot for Sacred Heart's third goal.

AIC finally snuck the puck past Pioneers goalie Jason Smith, who, thus far, has erased any questions about his ability to lead a winning team in his first season as a full-time starter.

Despite AIC getting on the board, senior Erik Roos capped off a four goal first period by scoring shorthanded.

O'Brien struck once again in the second period to change the contest into a blowout, and Andrew Billinghurst sparked another celebration on the ice when he scored at the 15:07 mark to bring the score 6-1.

"We haven't changed anything strategically on offense," O'Brien said. "We just played a little more intense this weekend."

The high octane offense carried through to the third period, when defenseman Kalen Wright and Ferraro scored the seventh and eighth goals of the game.

With an 8-1 lead, goaltender Stefan Drew came on to give Smith the rest of the night off. Drew saved all five shots in his collegiate debut.

"It feels really good to know that the offense is going to back me up," said Smith, who made 16 saves on the evening. "We had a hard weekend at Bentley, and our confidence is back now."

Trapp's first period goal would prove to be the game winner, and this feat was nothing new to him. In Massachusetts the previous night, he broke a 4-4 tie with 2:51 left in regulation to keep the Pioneers within one point of division rivals Mercyhurst and Holy Cross.

The team faces Mercyhurst on Friday and Saturday in Erie, Pa.

"We just need to keep playing intense hockey, and not allow them to take advantage of mistakes," said O'Brien, who had two goals and two assists on Saturday.

"Mercyhurst is very good on the power play and taking high percentage shots will help us out," he said. "Were definitely ready for them."