Junior transfer Zach Goberis scored a pair of goals, including the go-ahead tally in the third period, and senior Cameron Gray made 29 saves to help the Adrian College men’s hockey team to a 5-3 exhibition victory over the USA Hockey National Team Development Program U-18 squad on Saturday evening.
Junior Trevor Coykendall and sophomore Nick Lund joined Goberis with a two-point night on a goal and assist apiece. Junior Sam Ruffin (13-for-23) and Goberis (15-for-25) led Adrian in the face-off dot, while freshman Emil Gabrielson won six-of-10 draws.
Gray made 11 of his 29 stops in the final stanza when the Bulldogs were outshot 11-6 and USNTDP was held off the scoreboard. Andre Gasseau led Team USA with two goals and went 7-for-16 on face-offs.
Jack Hughes dished two assists and was 8-for-17 on face-offs. Tyler Boucher also had two points on a goal and an assist, led all skaters with seven shots on goal and won six of 10 face-offs.
Goalie Kaiden Mbereko turned aside 31 of 35 shots he faced. Goberis broke a 3-3 deadlock with 1 minute and 48 seconds gone in the third period with his first goal of the night. Junior Andrew Bellantassisted on the power play marker.
Adrian never trailed holding leads of 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 before Goberis scored an empty-net goal for insurance with 1:20 left in the game. In the first period, the teams traded goals 49 seconds apart. Freshman Connor May found the back of the net at 14:35 on assists from Ruffin and Coykendall before Gasseau equalized at 15:24.
The teams scored two goals apiece within a within a span of about 7 minutes in the second period. Lund from Gabrielson at 3:29 for AC, Gasseau again for Team USA at 6:25, Coykendall from Lund and freshman Jaden Shields to put the Bulldogs up again at 8:45 and Boucher tied it up one more time for the visitors at 10:21.
Trailing 4-3 after Goberis’ tie-breaking tally early in the third period, Team USA pulled Mbereko in favor of an extra attacker for most of the remaining two minutes of regulation. Gray made two stops during this timeframe to secure the win as the visitors couldn’t get a fourth goal to force overtime.
Adrian outshot its opponent 36 to 29 for the game, including a 17-7 advantage in the first period. Per NCAA rules, exhibition games will not count toward Adrian’s historical record or statistics. Adrian has won two-straight games against Team USA, including 4-1 at home on Dec. 14, 2019, to win its fifth contest in 13 all-time meetings.
These same two teams are scheduled to meet again on Saturday, Nov. 21, in Plymouth at USA Hockey Arena.
THUNDER / BULLDOGS BROADCAST INFO:
Non-Conference Regular Season Game
Trine University Thunder @ Adrian College Bulldogs
Date: Friday, October 30th | Time: 7:05 pm ET
Location: Arrington Ice Arena – Adrian, Michigan
TV: Adrian College Television | Radio: 107.9 WVAC-FM, 103.9 WLEN-FM
Seventeen of 21 players on the USNTDP U-18 roster in 2020-21 are committed to NCAA Division I programs and several are National Hockey League prospects.
NTDP now boasts 343 players from the program drafted in the NHL. Also, the program has produced 16 Stanley Cup champions, 19 Olympians, 44 NCAA champions and six Hobey Baker winners before last season.
The Americans play a schedule in the United States Hockey League (USHL). They defeated Concordia-Wisconsin, 8-3, last night before playing another NCAA Division III program in Adrian.
Goberis played his first two seasons at Metro State University-Denver, a Division 2 program of the American Collegiate Hockey Association.
Adrian officially opens the 2020-21 season on Friday when it hosts fellow Northern Collegiate Hockey Association member Trine in a non-conference game at 7:05 p.m. here at Arrington. This date was originally scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 22.
This article is largely a repost of an Adrian College press release from Mike Prang. For more sports, news and entertainment, follow the Midwest Sports Network on Twitter @MWSNsports or like the MWSN page on Facebook.
