ADRIAN, Mich. - It was an old school battle as the Bulldogs of Adrian College and the Eagles of Eastern Michigan slugged it out early Sunday evening. In a game that only really needed one period to produce the winning scores and another to finish them the game, it was back and forth hockey. The Bulldogs pulled off a 5-2 win over EMU.
The first period was a hard-hitting affair as it always is producing an EMU penalty. The Bulldogs power play had the opportunities right in front of the net, but could not put one in. Adrian showed great puck control and looked like they were ready to play. The Bulldogs pounded EMU goalie Kevin Kissaw with 33 shots in the first period, but Kissaw was equal to task each time as he was playing like a stone wall. Late in the period each team exchanged penalties, but neither teams power play turned up any goals.
A penalty on sophomore wingman Jordan Spear gave a EMU a power play early in the second period and it didn't take them long to cash in on it. An early shot and save by sophomore goalie Matt Anderson left the puck bouncing around and it found the stick of EMU sophomore Derrek Lucynski who shoveled it into the net.
At this point EMU was clearly outworking Adrian getting nearly every loose puck. Spear once again was called for a penalty midway through the period, but this time the Bulldogs struck first. Freshman speedster Alex Dobrzeniecki picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and showed his breakaway speed. He skated into the zone with a 1-on-1 with Kissaw and dangled the puck out to the right then pulled it from right to left and backhanded it for a shorthanded goal.
However, the celebration was short lived as the Eagles cashed in on the power play moments later as EMU junior David Graciak cleaned up the garbage in front of the Adrian net to put the Eagles ahead 2-1. With under five minutes left in the period, Adrian continued to pressure Kissaw in net and finally with a mass amount of chaos going on in front of the net sophomore Ryan Bachman came around the net skated into the slot and fired one past Kissaw whose attention was elsewhere making it a 2-2 game.
After the play however there were a number of penalties administered putting a total of five players in the box. With those penalties came a Bulldog power play and they made EMU pay for it. Sophomore defenseman Paul Conte had a shot on net and the puck bounced around and right to the stick of freshman forward Marc Madarasz who put it in the net to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 advantage going into the second intermission.
The third period was a lot like the first with big hits and major hustle plays. While killing off penalties that carried over sophomore Tristan Musser and the penalty kill continued to battle despite having given up two goals already on the power play. Musser made a number of hustle plays with the most notable being a diving effort to clear the zone and he did. Both teams were battling for control in a one-goal game.
Every opportunity each team had the defense was equal to the task. Late in the period Adrian was controlling the puck while also killing off a lot of time and wearing down the EMU defense. With less than four minutes to play, Bachman decided to put his name on the score sheet one more time. Having initially overplayed the puck it did cause EMU to lose control in the neutral zone. Dobrzeniecki made the pass up to Bachman who had a 1-on-1 with Kissaw. Bachman made this count as well and it extended the lead to 4-2 late in the third. Just over a minute later the Bulldogs again pressured the net and junior center Spencer Bonomo skated away with the free puck. With Kissaw on his back, Bonomo had an open net and that was the dagger that finished off EMU.
Adrian starting goalie Matt Anderson had what seemed like a light day in net making 23 saves on 25 shots giving up just two goals. EMU's Kevin Kissaw made 63 saves on 68 shots giving up five goals.
The Bulldogs are back in action this weekend at Arrington Ice Arena as they will face-off against the Western Michigan Broncos at 3:00 pm Saturday.
