St. Louis, MO – The No. 6 Adrian College Men’s ACHA Division 1 hockey team captured a 4-0 victory over No. 1 Minot State in the ACHA National Semifinal game on Monday night, with the help of a magnificent 43-save performance in goal from Noah Decottignies.
The Bulldogs met with the Beavers in a rematch of the 2023 National Championship game, which saw the Beavers capture a 1-0 victory in Boston. Monday’s victory counted as revenge for the Bulldogs, who returned the favor with a shutout victory to advance to the national title contest for the third consecutive year.
The Beavers came out hard early in the game, peppering the Bulldogs in the offensive zone. Adrian weathered the storm and held things scoreless after one period of play before exploding offensively in period two.
Hunter Allen struck first for the Bulldogs off a 2-on-1 rush, shortly followed by Cash Regan, who did the same thing just minutes later. Up 2-0 in the dying minutes of the middle stanza, Cameron Armstrong banged one in off his upper body after a Minot State goaltending blunder in front of the crease.
With the Bulldogs up 3-0 going into the final twenty minutes, Adrian continued its stellar defensive play, while adding one more insurance tally, thanks to a beautiful rush wide from Matthew DiCesare.
As the Beavers pushed to find something late, the Bulldogs stood tall and held off the No. 1-ranked team, sealing the 4-0 shutout win to advance to tomorrow’s championship game.
The MD1 Bulldogs will face-off against No. 2 UNLV tonight at 8:00 PM CST/9:00 PM EST at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Missouri. The Bulldogs and Rebels will meet for all the marbles for the second consecutive season as the Bulldogs strive for back-to-back national titles. There will be a local watch party for the Championship game at ZZ’s Sports Bar and Grill in Adrian.
*media courtesy of Adrian College*