Feb. 22, 2008

Stats

ADRIAN, Mich. - Captain Adam Krug took things into his own hands early to help lead the #8 Adrian College men's varsity hockey team to their 17th straight win in the first game of the MCHA Quarterfinals against Concordia University Wisconsin on Friday night.

After gaining control of the puck in the Adrian zone, Zach Galia fed a pass through the Falcon defense to an open Adam Krug. Krug took full advantage of the break-away situation, beating the Falcon goalie to put the Bulldogs on the scoreboard 4:00 into the game.

With the Bulldogs on the penalty kill, Krug and company kept the pressure on the Falcons. After clearing the puck deep into the Concordia zone, the puck took a fortunate bounce off of the boards for the Bulldogs. Chris Stansik gained control of the puck and slipped a pass to an open Krug who had no one to beat for the short-handed goal since the Falcon goalie was out of the crease trying to make a play on the puck. Two and a half minutes later, Krug completed the natural hat trick by netting his second-straight short-handed goal of the game, giving the Bulldogs the 3-0 lead with 9:08 left in the first period.

The special teams for the Bulldogs continued to shine in the second period. Jeremy Klaver (4:30) and Brad Houston (9:01) both scored power-play goals to give the Bulldogs a five-goal cushion before the midway point of the period. With 8:25 left in the frame, Eric Miller redirected a Quinn Waller shot for his nation-leading 34th goal of the season to push the lead to six. Drew Satterely scored his fourth goal of the season 5:09 before the second break on a slap shot from outside of the left face-off circle for the Bulldogs' seventh goal of the game. Houston added his second goal of the game just over three minutes after Satterely's goal for the Bulldogs' final goal of the game.

After a scoreless third period and the Bulldogs in the driver's seat, the #8 team in NCAA Division III hockey claimed their 23rd win of the season.

Brad Fogal earned his fourth shut-out win while stopping all 10 Falcon shots on goal.

The Bulldogs, who are the #1 seed in the MCHA tournament, will face off with the Falcons again tomorrow afternoon to fight for the right to play in the league Semi-Finals in a week in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Game time for tomorrow's tilt is slated for 3:00 p.m.

Notes: Friday's win gives the Bulldogs an NCAA Division III best 23 wins in their inaugural season... with Adam Krug's hat trick, the Bulldogs have had six hat tricks in the last three games... it is also the first time the Bulldogs have scored at least one hat trick in three consecutive games... the Bulldogs surpassed the 200 goal plateau with their eight goal performance and now have 205 goals on the season... additionally, 205 goals on the season ties the Bulldogs for 14th in NCAA Division III history for most goals scored in a single season (Elmira, 1999)... the team's 318 assists also tie them for 10th all time for assists in a season (Norwich, 1999)... 66 power-play goals has the Bulldogs sitting solely in 5th place in the NCAA rankings all-time for power-play goals in a season... Adam Krug's 10:52 to score a hat trick to open a game gives him the third-best time to complete the feat in NCAA Division III history