DULUTH, Minn.--The Adrian College men's hockey team scored four unanswered goals in the last two periods to chalk up a spirited come-from-behind 4-2 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association cross-divisional victory at College of St. Scholastica in a battle of nationally-ranked teams on Saturday evening.
THE BASICS
= Final Score: Adrian 4, St. Scholastica 2
= Location: Mars Lakeview Arena, Duluth, Minn.
= Records: Adrian Bulldogs (21-3-1, 17-2-1 NCHA-South); St. Scholastica Saints (14-8-3, 12-7-1 NCHA-North)
= National Rankings: Adrian #3 USCHO.com/#3 D3hockey.com, CSS #14 USCHO/#15 D3hockey
HOW IT HAPPENED
= Seven different Bulldogs recorded a point, including goal scorers junior Austin Hervey, and freshmen Connor Armour, Trevor Boyd, Cory Dunn.
= Adrian freshman Kevin Entmaa made 23 saves to improve to 12-0 on the season--the only unbeaten goaltender in NCAA men's all-Divisions.
= The host Saints jumped to a 2-0 lead in the final five minutes of the opening period.
= Adrian cut the deficit to 2-1 on Armour's power play goal just 65 seconds into the second period. Sophomore defenseman Blake Butzow was credited with an assist.
= Boyd opened the scoring in Adrian's three-goal final period. After collecting the puck near center ice, he skated down the right wing boards and cut to his left to fire off a shot from the high slot past the goalie through a screen. The score was tied 2-2 at the 1:10 mark.
= Dunn made it 3-2 3:25 later with a blast from the right face-off circle. Freshman Chase Matson and junior alternate captain Daniel Lisi were credited the assists.
= The Bulldogs got an insurance goal at the 13:29 mark from Hervey with the Bulldogs on the power play.
THE OPPOSITION
= Rich Coyne scored on an assist from Sam Williams to give CSS a 1-0 lead with 5:28 remaining in the first period. It was Coyne's first tally of the season.
= Then 2:19 later, Mark Whiteley scored on the power play on assists by Keegan Bruce and Dylan Nowakowski to make it a two-goal margin.
= Tyler Bruggeman made 29 saves, falling to 12-7-3 on the season.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
= Entmaa is the only Bulldogs' goalie in history to finish a regular season unbeaten, untied (with a minimum of 10 decisions).
= Nowakowski leads the Saints in goals (13), assists (22) and total points (35).
= Now with seven goals and a NCAA Division III-leading 30 assists, Armour tops the Bulldogs with 37 total points--best among D-III rookies and sixth in the nation overall.
= Adrian also has won conference regular-season titles in 2008-09-10-11-12-13-15 for a total of eight, which is the most in the NCHA since the team's founding in the 2007-08 season.
= Matson's assist this afternoon gives him 11 points on the season, becoming the 14th Bulldog to reach double figures. That signals the most since the 2012-13 squad had 16.
UP NEXT
= Adrian will host a two-game NCHA Harris Cup semifinal series against a yet-to-be-determined opponent next weekend at Arrington Ice Arena. More details to be announced later.
#AdrianBulldogs