ADRIAN, Mich. – It looked like a trip down memory lane for the Adrian College men's hockey team on Saturday with a 9-2 win in the MCHA Harris Cup Semifinals against Lawrence University. Senior forward Eric Miller scored 40 goals during his freshman season and showed flashes of that explosive scoring with three goals and three assists setting a career-high with six points. Senior forward Shawn Skelly also set a career-high with five assists and sophomore forward Zach Graham added a goal and three assists.
Adrian scored 22 seconds into the game as Miller scored his 16th goal of the season from Skelly and Graham. The quick strike put the Vikings on their heels and the Bulldogs used that to their advantage by scoring at 3:02 as Miller scored his 17th goal of the year from Skelly and Graham. Senior defenseman Eric Roman got into the act at 4:33 with his second goal of the season from Miller and Skelly on a 4-on-4 situation.
The second period saw junior forward Jordan Watts score at 1:36 for his 11th goal of the season from Shawn Courtney and Sam Kuzyk. Lawrence stormed back with two goals in a span of 14 seconds to cut the lead to 4-2. Sam Johnson scored on the power play at 8:38 from Paul Zuke and Jonathon Sheridan for his seventh of the year. Huck Saunders then scored his fifth of the year at 8:52 from Zuke and Sheridan.
Adrian put to rest any comeback thoughts by scoring twice more to end the period. Miller's hat trick at 10:12 from Skelly made it 5-2. Senior defenseman Jeremy Klaver then blasted a power play goal into the net at 11:40 from Graham and Miller to make it 6-2 after 40 minutes.
The Bulldogs continued the pressure in the third as senior forward Kyle Watson scored his fourth of the season at 6:39. Freshman forward Josh Cousineau made it 8-2 at 9:34 from Joel Workman and Klaver. Graham finished the scoring at 13:20 on the power play from guess who Miller and Skelly.
Senior goaltender Brad Fogal made 38 saves in the game and earned his 90th career win. Evan Johnson made 29 stops for the Vikings (14-13-1). Lawrence was 1-for-7 on the power play while Adrian went 2-for-3. Adrian advances to their fourth straight MCHA Harris Cup Final. They will play either MSOE or Marian tomorrow at 2:00 PM for the right to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
