Almost five months to the day Sacred Heart is set to open the 2023 season, the Pioneers held their annual spring football game at Campus Field on Friday.

After back-to-back NEC titles, Mark Nofri's squad turned in a disappointing 2022 campaign, losing four of its last five games to close the season.

The veteran coach is hoping his team can get back to its winning ways.

"We got some weapons. It's a matter of piecing it all together and building that chemistry. It's been good since January when they got back. The kids have been good at understanding what needs to be done and changing the things that went wrong this past fall, and I think they've taken a step forward again, regaining who we are with some type of identity. I tell them all the time it's about how hard you play and how smart you play, and hopefully we find that SHU grit back," Nofri said.

Sacred Heart opens the season Sept. 2 at home. The Pioneers will play in-state foes UConn and Yale as a part of their non-conference slate in 2023.