ADRIAN, Mich. - The Adrian College ACHA Division I men's hockey team broke a 3-3 tie with just 1:03 to play to pull out a tough 4-3 win over a stubborn Kent State club on Thursday night at Arrington Ice Arena.
Adrian's game-winning goal came off the stick of freshman Brad Kobryn (Brighton, Ont.), which only seemed appropriate, as all of Adrian's other goals did as well. Kobryn was a personal one-man wrecking crew registering four goals for the Bulldogs, bringing his season total to 36 in just 26 games.
Kobryn opened the scoring in period number one with a power play goal at 10:35, just 22 seconds after Kent State's Zac Sommer had been sent to the penalty box for tripping. Adrian's lead was short-lived, however, as the Golden Flashes struck for a pair of goals by Tony Bubanic and Jonathan Buttitta to take a 2-1 lead at the first intermission.
Just 1:20 into the second period, Kent State's Jared Fielden was whistled for a hooking penalty and Kobryn made them pay again with his second goal on an assist from Chris Derochie (Rossland, B.C.). Adrian reclaimed the lead with just 31 seconds left in the period when Justin Fisher (Flushing, Mich.) found Kobryn once again, as he completed the hat trick for his 35th goal of the season.
It looked as though that goal would hold up as the game-winner until late in the third period, when Bubanic got loose on a breakaway and rifled the puck over the right shoulder of Adrian goaltender Austyn Roudebush (Toledo, Ohio) to tie the game at 3-3.
With overtime now looming, Adrian went right back to Kobryn, who struck again with just 63 seconds remaining, with assists from Nikolas Sakellaropoulos (Tinley Park, Ill.) and Matt Zaremba (Gaylord, Mich.).
Kent State pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker in the final minute, which almost allowed Kobryn to register a fifth goal, as his shot from just inside the red line drifted just wide left in the final moments.
Derochie and Fisher each finished the game with two assists on the night, while Adrian outshot the Golden Flashes, 49-21. Roudebush earned his 12th win in 14 decisions with 18 saves. Kent State received an outstanding performance in their goal from Zach Nowak, who stopped 45 shots on the evening.
The victory was the 23rd of the year for the ninth-ranked Bulldogs, who have lost just three games and tied one. Kent State falls to 11-14. Adrian's next action will not be until February 4 when they travel to Rochester College for a 6:45 p.m. faceoff. Adrian's next home game will be February 6 when they host the Western Michigan Stallions at 7 p.m.
