ADRIAN, Mich. - For the first time in the history of the men's hockey program, the Bulldogs played to a tie at home as they were deadlocked at 2-2 against MSOE on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 15). It was just the sixth overtime game for Adrian (11-3-1, 8-1-1 MCHA) and they are now 3-1-2 all-time in overtime contests and 1-1-1 at Arrington Ice Arena. The last Adrian tie was October 24, 2008 at Potsdam as the teams skated to a 6-6 draw.
Both teams have identical point totals in the league standings (17 points) and will meet again later this year on Feb. 18-19 in Milwaukee. Adrian outshot the Raiders by a slim 32-31 margin with three shots coming in the extra session. Adrian was outshot 14-7 in the second period but managed to play catch up in the third period.
Adrian led 1-0 at 8:37 of the opening period as Jordan Watts scored his seventh goal of the season at even strength. Watts took a rebound on the left side of net and slipped it past goaltender Connor Toomey with assists from Joel Workman and Bobby Hineman.
MSOE knotted things up at 1-1 at 17:13 on the power play as Jordan Keizer scored his 16th goal of the season and second of the weekend on the 5-on-4 advantage. Keizer fired on a short angle to the left of goaltender Brad Fogal and the puck appeared to go under Fogal's arm. Keizer's goal came on MSOE's first power play of the game and was assisted by Michael Schenfeld and Bradley Tierney.
The Raiders took a 2-1 lead at the 2:30 mark of the second period after a Shawn Skelly minor penalty for interference put MSOE on another power play. Michael Thompson scored on a 5-on-3 opportunity after Jeremy Klaver was also called for roughing at 2:20. It took just 10 seconds for Thompson's slapshot between the circles to find the back of the net for his fifth goal of the season. His goal was assisted by Ben Lauder.
Adrian kept the game close despite a sloppy second period and entered the third down just 2-1. Zach Graham tied the game at 2-2 at 3:43 of the third period for his ninth goal of the season at even strength with an assist from Eric Miller. Graham used a nifty move to get to the net and slip the puck under Toomey near the right post.
Toomey finished with 30 saves for MSOE while Fogal made 29 saves for the Bulldogs. Adrian went 0-of-4 on the power play ending a nine-game streak of scoring at least one power play goal. MSOE finished 2-of-6 but missed on their last four tries going 1-of-5 in the second period alone.
