2018 Sacred Heart Pioneers football team

The 2018 Sacred Heart Pioneers football team represented Sacred Heart University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by sixth-year head coach Mark Nofri and played their home games at Campus Field. They were a member of the Northeast Conference. They finished the season 7–4, 5–1 in NEC play to be NEC co-champions with Duquesne. Due to their head-to-head loss to Duquesne, they did not receive the NEC's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs and did not receive and at-large bid.

2018 Sacred Heart Pioneers football
NEC co-champion
Conference	Northeast Conference
2018 record	7–4 (5–1 NEC)
Head coach	Mark Nofri (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Matt Gardner
Defensive coordinator	Michael Cooke
Home stadium	Campus Field (Capacity: 3,500)

2018 Northeast Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 21 Duquesne +^		5	–	1					8	–	3
Sacred Heart +		5	–	1					7	–	4
Central Connecticut		4	–	2					6	–	5
Wagner		3	–	3					4	–	7
Saint Francis (PA)		2	–	4					4	–	7
Bryant		2	–	4					6	–	5
Robert Morris		0	–	6					2	–	9
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Previous season

The Pioneers finished the 2017 season 4–7, 2–4 in NEC play to finish in a tie for fifth place.

Preseason

NEC coaches poll

The NEC released their preseason coaches poll on July 24, 2018, with the Pioneers predicted to finish in sixth place.[1] They did not place any players on the preseason all-NEC team.

Predicted finish	Team
1	Central Connecticut
2	Duquesne
3	Bryant
4	Saint Francis
5	Wagner
6	Sacred Heart
7	Robert Morris

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 1	6:00 p.m.	Lafayette*	Campus Field Fairfield, CT	W 35–6	4,157
September 8	3:30 p.m.	at Bucknell*	Christy Mathewson–Memorial Stadium Lewisburg, PA	W 30–14	1,872
September 22	6:00 p.m.	at Wagner	Wagner College Stadium Staten Island, NY	W 41–14	3,178
September 29	1:00 p.m.	at Cornell*	Schoellkopf Field Ithaca, NY	L 24–43	3,620
October 6	3:00 p.m.	Penn*	Campus Field Fairfield, CT	L 27–31	4,503
October 13	6:00 p.m.	at Dartmouth*	Memorial Field Hanover, NH	L 0–42	3,138
October 20	1:00 p.m.	at Central Connecticut	Arute Field New Britain, CT (Constitution State Rivalry)	W 28–25	5,117
October 27	1:00 p.m.	Bryant	Campus Field Fairfield, CT	W 49–26	1,678
November 3	Noon	Robert Morris	Campus Field Fairfield, CT	W 38–7	1,556
November 10	Noon	at Duquesne	Rooney Field Pittsburgh, PA	L 24–28	1,304
November 17	Noon	Saint Francis (PA)	Campus Field Fairfield, CT	W 13–7	1,852
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

• Source: Schedule

Game summaries

Lafayette

	1	2	3	4	Total
Leopards	3	0	3	0	6
Pioneers	7	14	7	7	35

See also: 2018 Lafayette Leopards football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–1	2017	SHU, 38–24

at Bucknell

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pioneers	7	7	7	9	30
Bison	0	14	0	0	14

See also: 2018 Bucknell Bison football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–2	2017	BUCK, 34–31

at Wagner

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pioneers	7	21	6	7	41
Seahawks	0	7	7	0	14

See also: 2018 Wagner Seahawks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–11	2017	WAG, 28–15

at Cornell

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pioneers	3	7	7	7	24
Big Red	16	20	7	0	43

See also: 2018 Cornell Big Red football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–0	2016	SHU, 31–24

Penn

	1	2	3	4	Total
Quakers	7	10	7	7	31
Pioneers	0	0	21	6	27

See also: 2018 Penn Quakers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

at Dartmouth

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pioneers	0	0	0	0	0
Big Green	21	14	7	0	42

See also: 2018 Dartmouth Big Green football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–3	2017	DART, 29–26

at Central Connecticut

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pioneers	7	0	14	7	28
Blue Devils	3	14	0	8	25

See also: 2018 Central Connecticut Blue Devils football team and Constitution State Rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–12	2017	CCSU, 26–15

Bryant

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	14	6	0	6	26
Pioneers	14	13	13	9	49

See also: 2018 Bryant Bulldogs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
6–5	2017	BRY, 48–45

Robert Morris

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colonials	0	0	7	0	7
Pioneers	21	14	0	3	38

See also: 2018 Robert Morris Colonials football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
11–8	2017	BRY, 21–14

at Duquesne

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pioneers	0	7	14	3	24
Dukes	14	7	7	0	28

See also: 2018 Duquesne Dukes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–9	2017	DUQ, 37–21

Saint Francis (PA)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Red Flash	0	7	0	0	7
Pioneers	3	3	7	0	13

See also: 2018 Saint Francis Red Flash football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
10–11	2017	SHU, 16–7

References

1. "Northeast Conference - Defending Champ CCSU Tops Preseason Coaches' Poll, Places League-high Seven on All-NEC Team". www.northeastconference.org.