In an unbelievable showing, the Adrian College Bulldogs claimed the Harris Cup in their own Arrington Ice Arena on Saturday evening. The program wrestled it away from bitter rival Saint Norbert College and the Green Knights.
The program crested 300 total victories since their founding in 2007-08 with the win. It also extended their winning streak to 13 total games.
3-2 was the final score over visiting St. Norbert to give the Bulldogs their first Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Harris Cup title since 2016 and the eighth conference tournament championship in team history.
Sophomore Rex Moe scored two goals, including the game-winner in the third period. Junior goalie Cameron Gray improved to 18-4-1 on the season after making 35 of 37 stops. Senior Dino Balsamo, who had an assist, won 19 of 35 face-offs to tie for game-high honors in both categories.
Adrian scores a powerplay goal in the second period, the first goal of the night, making it 1-0 Adrian #godawgs #bulldogs #actv #d3hky #live #livetv #tv #freestream #hockey pic.twitter.com/KsBR6yRmmE
— Adrian College TV (@AdrianCollegeTV) March 8, 2020
Peyton Frantti scored a goal and was 19-for-35 on face-offs, leading St. Norbert with six shots on goal. Keegan Milligan also scored for the Green Knights and went 10-for-16 in the face-off dot. Colby Entz (L, 12-3-2) had 42 saves on 45 shots faced.
Moe broke a 2-2 tie with 8 minutes and 48 seconds left in the game when he took a feed from junior Joshua Owings and beat the goalie under the paddle of his stick. The Green Knights pulled Entz under the 2-minute mark for 1:19 and got off five shots on goal from prime scoring areas–but Gray was equal to the task to keep the lead intact.
Another Adrian goal, this one an even strength goal by Rex Moe brings the score to 2-0 in favor of the Bulldogs #godawgs #bulldogs #actv #d3hky #live #livetv #tv #freestream #hockey pic.twitter.com/7aXgdHnS6n
— Adrian College TV (@AdrianCollegeTV) March 8, 2020
After the teams skated to a scoreless first period, Adrian built a 2-0 lead with goals in the second period by senior defenseman Joey Colatarci on the power play at 4:16 into the frame and Moe scored his first on the night at 10:39. Colatarci’s shot came from the blueline and through a screen, while Moe potted his scoring chance in the back of the net on a nice no-look, backhanded feed by freshman Alessio Luciani.
St. Norbert, however, came back with two goals of its own early in the third period to make the AC faithful uneasy. Milligan and Frantti scored 17 seconds apart by the 6:53 mark. Milligan was in front of the goal when he redirected Keenan Spillum’s wrist shot from above the left face-off circle inside the right post. Off a SNC face-off win, Frantti sent his shot from the right point that found its way through a maze of players and through Gray’s pads.
Tune in now for the final few moments of the Harris Cup championship. 3-2 in favor of Adrian #godawgs #bulldogs #actv #d3hky #live #livetv #tv #freestream #hockey pic.twitter.com/6ncuotbXqV
— Adrian College TV (@AdrianCollegeTV) March 8, 2020
Adrian was 1-for-4 on the power play while SNC was 0-for-3.
The Bulldogs are 34-6 lifetime in the conference playoffs. Adrian owns a 13-game winning streak–the team’s longest since reeling off 16 during the 2017-18 campaign. St. Norbert leads the all-time series over Adrian, 13-10, but the Bulldogs took the season series 2-1. The teams have met in the postseason nine times, including the last six NCHA Harris Cup title games. The Green Knights were the three-time defending tournament champions while the Bulldogs won crowns in 2015 and ’16 as well as tonight during that six-year stretch.
The NCHA All-Tournament was comprised of forward Kurt Black, SNC; forward Rex Moe, Adrian (Most Valuable Player); forward Andrew Bellant, Adrian; defense Brendan Aird, SNC; defense Joey Colatarci, Adrian; and goalie Colby Entz, SNC.
What a game for @ACBulldogHockey. Here's my view from the booth on @AdrianCollegeTV as they claimed the @NCHAhockey Harris Cup 3-2#godawgs #bulldogs #actv #d3hky #live #livetv #tv #hockey @d3hky pic.twitter.com/CCWGzXwVly
— Gabriel Schray (@schrayguy) March 8, 2020
Balsamo now has a team-leading 40 points on the season (19g, 21a) to become the first Bulldog to reach that plateau since Kyle Brothers (24+25=49) in the 2014-15 season. Adrian has amassed a 300-57-20 record (.822) since its debut on Oct. 19, 2007, becoming one of the quickest teams in NCAA men’s hockey history to reach that win-milestone.
Adrian earns the NCHA’s automatic bid to the 2020 NCAA Division III Men’s Ice Hockey Championship. Learn more about and watch the selection show, where Adrian will discover their opponent here.
This view is everything! 🙌🙌🙌 #harriscupchamps #godawgs #actv #win #playoffs #NCAAd3 #d3hky pic.twitter.com/xASwFr7oKu
— Adrian College TV (@AdrianCollegeTV) March 8, 2020
This article was written using a press release and information generated by Adrian College’s sports information department. It is nearly entirely a repost of the original press release. For more college sports, follow us on Twitter @MWSNsports or like our page on Facebook.
