Nationally-ranked Adrian advanced to this weekend’s NCHA Harris Cup Semifinals after Andrew Bellant netted a hat trick in the Bulldogs’ 5-3 victory Saturday to eliminate visiting Aurora, winning the series two-games-to-none. Adrian won on Friday night by a final tally of 7-5.
Adrian is No. 6 (189 points) by U.S. College Hockey Online and No. 6 in the PairWise
Senior Dino Balsamo had two points on a goal and an assist while posting game highs of 18 face-off wins and 30 draws.Senior defenseman Joey Colatarci produced two assists. Junior goalie Cameron Gray improved to 16-4-1 on the season after making 22 stops. Thirteen of his saves came during AU power play chances.
Brayden Sampson led the visitors with a pair of goals. Larry Jungwirth had a goal and an assist. Connor Chilton contributed a pair of assists.
A hat trick by adrian brings the score to 4-3 in favor of adrian pic.twitter.com/aMaSWyACiH
— Adrian College TV (@AdrianCollegeTV) February 22, 2020
Adrian peppered Aurora’s net with a 42-25 shots on goal advantage. The teams were tied 1-1 after 20 minutes and 3-3 after the second period before Bellant completed his “hatty” 3 minutes and 59 seconds into the third period to put Adrian ahead for good on a feed from Colatarci.
Freshman Zachary Heintz scored an insurance tally on assists from senior Bryce Van Horn and sophomore Sam Ruffin at the 9:09 mark. Ruffin won a defensive zone face-off and Van Horn skated up the ice before eventually giving Heintz a centering pass from the right wing.
Adrian took a 3-1 advantage in the second period on goals by Bellant and Balsamo on the power play 3:33 apart by the 8:55 mark. But Jungwirth answered at 15:06 on a pass from Adam Keyes and Sampson at 16:35 from Chilton–both on the power play–to draw the Spartans even at 3-all.
Another adrian goal makes their lead now 5-3 in the arrington ice arena pic.twitter.com/3Xq1C7UQDy
— Adrian College TV (@AdrianCollegeTV) February 22, 2020
Aurora stayed in the contest by going 3-for-6 on the power play while Adrian was 1-for-3. In the first period, Bellant scored his first goal of the afternoon at 12:29 before Sampson equalized with 2:08 remaining.
Adrian improves to 12-0 all-time versus Aurora, including a 6-0 mark at home. Aurora is making its second consecutive appearance in the Harris Cup playoffs in this, the Spartans’ sixth season of NCAA existence.
The Bulldogs are 32-6 lifetime in the conference playoffs. Balsamo (18g, 20a) and Bellant (17g, 21a) have forged a tie for the Adrian scoring lead with 38 points. Ruffin tops the Bulldogs with 27 assists and is third with 36 points.
THUNDER / BULLDOGS BROADCAST INFO:
NCHA Semi-Final Playoff Contest
Trine University Thunder @ Adrian College Bulldogs
Date: Saturday, February 29th | Time: 7:00 pm ET
Location: Arrington Ice Arena – Adrian, Michigan
TV: Adrian College Television | Radio: 107.9 WVAC-FM
The Spartans came into the weekend leading the NCHA with 2.04 goals allowed per game, but the Bulldogs piled up 12 goals on the nation’s eighth-best scoring defense.
Adrian owns an 11-game winning streak–the team’s longest since reeling off 16 during the 2017-18 campaign.
The Trine Thunder defeated Lake Forest, 1-0, in the mini-game after the Foresters won 3-1 earlier on Saturday; Trine won Friday at LFC 5-4 in overtime.
It's official. @TrineMHockey just upset @LFCollege 1-0. They will now face @ACbulldoghockey in the NCHA semifinal. Their fifth matchup this season@AdrianBulldogs @AdrianCollegeTV @AdrianCollege #godawgs #bulldogs #actv #adrian #d3hky @d3hky @ihwendt pic.twitter.com/VhpsPocsUo
— Gabriel Schray (@schrayguy) February 23, 2020
You can watch the game live online on Adrian College Television or listen on your radio dial in Lenawee County on 107.9 WVAC-FM. You can also listen online if you’re unable to watch by visiting wvac.adrian.edu. Ticket prices are just $10 for reserved seating and $7 for general admission. Students are free of charge with school identification. Tickets can be found by visiting adrianbulldogs.com
This article was written using a press release and information generated by Adrian College’s sports information department and Patrick Stewart. 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.
