Adrian College’s Dino Balsamo has been named to the 2019-20 American Hockey Coaches Association NCAA Division III All-America First Team. Adrian College saw the most selections among four Northern Collegiate Hockey Association schools represented on the AHCA/CCM All-America teams.
Balsamo made his All-NCHA debut during the first week of March. The forward enjoyed a career-best season for the Bulldogs, tying for the NCHA lead in points with 27 on 14 goals and 13 assists. In overall games, his point total (19+21=40) included the second-most goals in the league, as well as the most points on the power play (10+9=19).
His 1.38 points per game ranked 20th in NCAA Division III. His previous career highs were 13 goals in 2019, 20 assists in 2018 and 29 points last season. Balsamo finished as AC’s active all-time scoring leader with 46+62=108, part of his 48+63=111 total that included the first half of the 2016-17 campaign when he started his career at NCAA Division I Bentley.
The @AdrianCollege Bulldogs, riding a 13 game winning streak, will host @HobartCollege in the opening round of the @NCAADIII Ice Hockey National Championship#Adrian #Bulldogs #D3hky #GDTBAB #GoDawgs #Hobart #Hockey #HockeyTwitter #NCAA #NCHA #Statesmen #WhyD3 @D3Hky @Schrayguy pic.twitter.com/faHgmRxi1B
— Adrian College TV (@AdrianCollegeTV) March 9, 2020
Senior Joey Colatarci was also named to the All-American team. The pair combined this season helped Adrian to a 21-5-3 record, sweeps of the NCHA Peters Cup and Harris Cup championships, a berth in the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Championship, a no. 4 NCAA PairWise ranking and a no. 5 final national ranking by USCHO.com. They were part of a senior class that won 85 games, captured three Peters Cup regular-season titles, the 2020 Harris Cup and three NCAA tournament appearances.
Highlights from the @NCHAhockey Harris Cup Championship game. @ACBulldogHockey netted a 3-2 victory over @StNorbert
Watch the @NCAADIII selection show at 10:30 ET to see who AC plays next!#godawgs #adrian #hockey #actv #bulldogs #d3hky @d3hky @adrianbulldogs @adriancollege pic.twitter.com/36wJkcofPU
— Adrian College TV (@AdrianCollegeTV) March 9, 2020
All told, Adrian has produced including 23 AHCA All-America citations by 18 Bulldogs since the program’s founding in 2007-08, including 14 of those awards coming under six-year head coach Adam Krug ’12. Balsamo and Colatarci are the first pair of Bulldogs named first-team All-America since Kyle Brothers and Josh Ranalli in 2015.
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