Adrian, MI – The outcome was never in doubt. The No. 1 ranked Adrian College Men’s Hockey team entered Saturday’s Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Tournament Finals riding at 27-game winning streak…and they extended it to 28 after dominating No. 5 St. Norbert College 12-3.
The 12 goals for the Bulldogs was the most amount of goals scored in a Harris Cup Finals game in NCHA history. With the win, Adrian picked up an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Bulldogs shocked the Green Knights right out of the gate with a goal from Jaden Shields 1:45 into the game. Dante Spagnuolo scored just under two minutes later to make it a 2-0 Bulldog lead which was quickly extended by a goal from Matus Spodniak.
St. Norbert got on the board to make it 3-1, but Ryan Pitoscia answered to go up 4-1. Very quickly after, St. Norbert struck again to make it 4-2 at the end of the first period.
Adrian came out scoring in the second with an early goal from Terry Ryder. Zach Goberis scored unassisted to lead 6-2 before a quick goal from Alessio Luciani and another from Ty Enns.
St. Norbert found a breakaway opportunity and scored shorthanded to make it 8-3 in favor of Adrian, but on that same penalty, Luciani netted his second of the game to go up 9-3. Goberis picked up a penalty shot after being hooked on a breakaway which he scored to lead 10-3 after two periods of play.
In the third, Zachary Heintz laid on another goal for Adrian to lead 11-3 before Trevor Coykendall netted a shot with under four minutes to go to lead 12-3.
Cameron Gray picked up his 20th win of the season for Adrian as the goaltender allowed three goals to go with 20 saves.
The Bulldogs moved to 28-1 on the season marking the best record in program history and the most amount of wins in a single season.
The All-Tournament team was announced after the Harris Cup Finals where Sam Ruffin, Jaden Shields, Terry Ryder, and Cameron Gray received honors. Gray was also named the tournament MVP with four wins.
The NCAA D3 Hockey National Tournament bracket was released Monday morning, with the Bulldogs securing the number one overall seed. They will have a bye week, then will hit the ice at home on March 19th vs the winner of Hobart/Elmira.
*Media courtesy of Adrian College Athletics*