ADRIAN, Mich. - The fire inside was evident from the opening on Saturday night (Nov. 27) for the seventh-ranked men's hockey team as they played a complete game in a 4-1 win over fifth-ranked Hamline University on day two of the Thanksgiving Tournament at Arrington Ice Arena. The marquee matchup of the tournament pitted two of the nation's best against each other as Adrian was looking to avenge a pair of losses last season at Hamline. They did just that and improved to 6-2 this season with clutch goals and stout defense.
The Bulldogs got things rolling at 16:39 of the first period as Brad Houston carried across the blue line on the left wing and rifled a shot past Beau Christian for his fifth goal of the season with an assist from Jeremy Klaver.
Hamline tied the game early in the second period on the power play as Alex Lundbohm walked the puck inside the left faceoff circle and laced a wrister over the left shoulder of Brad Fogal for his second tally of the year with assists from Chris Berenguer and Jordan Van Gilder. Hamline's goal at 4:45 made it 1-1.
Adrian took control from there scoring the next three goals in the contest. Shawn Courtney netted the game-winner at 12:43 of the second period at even strength as his second goal of the season was an off-balance shot that beat Christian over his left shoulder. Eric Miller and Shawn Skelly each had an assist on the goal to give Adrian a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes.
Skelly took care of the rest in the third period as he scored back-to-back power play goals with the first one coming at 0:40 for his fourth of the season. Miller and Zach Graham each had an assist for the Bulldogs. Skelly snapped his fifth goal of the season top shelf through traffic at 11:18 from Miller and Graham to seal the win for Adrian (6-2).
Adrian's penalty kill unit played very well killing off 7-of-8 penalties including a five-minute major in the second period. Adrian went 2-of-7 on the power play themselves going 2-of-3 in the third period on two shots on goal. Brad Fogal had a solid game in net making 30 saves with six coming in the final period. Skelly was named offensive MVP for Adrian while Courtney was named defensive team MVP of the tournament.
