ADRIAN, Mich.--The nationally No. 7-ranked Adrian College men's hockey team closed 2019 on New Year's Eve with a resounding 8-1 victory over Northern Collegiate Hockey Association foe Trine in a non-conference game on Tuesday, backed by a balanced offense that saw 11 Bulldogs register at least one point on the evening.

THE BASICS
= Final Score: Adrian College 8, Trine University 1

= Location: Weston Rink at Arrington Ice Arena; Adrian, Mich.

= Updated Records: Adrian Bulldogs, 8-2-1; Trine Thunder, 6-5

= National Rankings: Adrian is No. 7 (166 points) by U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO.com) for NCAA Division III

TOP 'DAWGS
= Freshman Zachary Heintz recorded his first career hat trick on a game-high seven shots on goal.

= Sophomore Andrew Bellant led all scorers with four points on a goal and three assists

= Junior Cameron Gray posted a career-high 32 saves to improve to 5-2-1 on the season.

= Senior Dino Balsamo and sophomore Sam Ruffin both had three points on a goal and pair of assists and won 13 and 12 face-offs, respectively, on identical 24 draws.

= Sophomore defenseman Andrew McCann scored his first career goal among two points and senior Matt McNair also had a multi-point game with two assists. 

= Freshman Alessio Luciani (12-of-19) and senior Vinny Post (8-for-14) also did well in the face-off dot.

THE OPPOSITION
= Brendan Prappas scored Trine's lone goal. He was 9-for-21 on face-offs.

= Corey Robertson and Justin Meers also found the scoresheet with assists on Prappas' goal.

= TJ Delaney led the TU offense with six shots.

= Brandon Krumpschmid and Garrett Hallford were both 9-for-18 inside the face-off circle.

HOW IT HAPPENED 
= Adrian came out flying in the first period scoring four goals in a span of 14 minutes and 4 seconds, beginning with Bellant's nifty goal from an acute angle just 18 seconds in. Bellant skirted around a TU player in his defensive zone and skated along the left wing boards down to near the offensive goal line, where he somehow lifted a backhand shot top shelf inside the right post.

= Heintz scored his first goal of the night midway through the opening stanza and, like Bellant, he found the back of the net from a sharp angle. Heintz deked around two defenders and ripped a forehand shot from the left face-off circle over the goalie's right shoulder into the top corner.

= Balsamo and Heintz wrapped up the scoring in the first 20 minutes.

= Freshman Nick Lund potted his first career goal to make it 5-0 at 4:59 of the second period.

= Ruffin made it 6-0 with a power play marker just 24 seconds into the third period.

= With Trine on the man-advantage, Prappas spoiled Gray's shutout bid at the 8:15 mark on a shot through traffic from the blue line.

= However, Heintz answered with a power-play goal for Adrian just 39 seconds later and McCann scored the final goal with 19 seconds left to wrap it up.

= Adrian outshot Trine 38-33 for the contest, including 17-7 in the third period when the Bulldogs sealed the win with three goals.

= The Thunder outshot the Bulldogs 17 to eight in the second period, but Gray stopped all of those 17 as Lund provided the only score.  

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
= Adrian has never lost to Trine in six all-meetings (6-0). The Bulldogs are 3-0 lifetime at home over the Thunder.

= Heintz has tied Balsamo for the team lead with eight goals.

= Bellant tops the Bulldogs with 12 assists and 17 total points.

= The Bulldogs win their first New Year's Eve game after three previous losses.

UP NEXT
= Adrian will host Utica College on Saturday (7:05 p.m.) and Sunday (4:05 p.m.) at Arrington, closing the non-conference portion of its schedule.

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