ADRIAN, Mich.--Sophomore defenseman Brandon Marinelli and senior Vinny Post each scored two goals, and sophomores Sam Ruffin, Trevor Coykendall added two assists apiece, to help power Adrian to a 4-1 victory Friday evening over conference leader Lake Forest in a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association battle of nationally-ranked top-15 squads. 

THE BASICS
= Final Score: Adrian College 4, Lake Forest College 1

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

= Updated Records: Adrian Bulldogs, 12-5-3 overall (10-3-2 NCHA-South); Lake Forest Foresters, 16-3-1 overall (13-2 NCHA-South)

= NCAA Division III National Rankings: Adrian is No. 13 (64 points) by U.S. College Hockey Online; Lake Forest is No. 6 (211, 1 first-place vote) by USCHO.com

TOP 'DAWGS
= Junior goalie Cameron Gray posted 22 saves to improve to 9-4-1 on the season.

= Ruffin finished with game-high seven shots on goal and was 17-for-25 on face-offs.

= Freshman Alessio Luciani also shined in the face-off circle by winning 10 of 15 draws.   

THE OPPOSITION
= Zach Leonard tallied the Foresters lone goal.

= Joey Sardina, who had an assist, led the team with four shots.

= Boyd DiClemente tried to keep LFC close by making 37 saves on 40 shots faced, losing for only the second time this season (15-2-1).

= Aaron O'Neill was 11-for-17 in the face-off dot.

HOW IT HAPPENED 
= Adrian took a 2-0 advantage after the first period, peppering the LFC goal with 18 shots while allowing just six. Six minutes and 22 seconds into the contest, Post took a feed from Coykendall who was below the goal line and rifled a shot past DiClimente from the right face-off circle. With 79 seconds left in the stanza, Marinelli's shot got between the goalie's pads and the puck trickled over the goal line.

= After a scoreless second period, Marinelli made it 3-0 at 5:09 of the third when his shot from the point found its way through traffic for a power play marker.

= Lake Forest spoiled Adrian's shutout bid at 13:32 when the Bulldogs couldn't get out of their zone. Sardina popped the puck into the air where it landed in front of Gray and Leonard poked the shot through his leg pads.

= Post iced the win with an empty-net, shorthanded goal at the 18:25 mark.

= The Bulldogs held a commanding 41-23 edge in shots and also won 42 of 77 face-offs.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
= Adrian improves to 29-1-1 lifetime against Lake Forest, including a 16-0-1 record on home-ice.

= The Bulldogs are now 10-0-2 when holding a lead after the second period.

= Lake Forest came into tonight averaging 32.2 shots, but was held to 23. The Foresters also had a 25.3 power play percentage but the Bulldogs killed off all eight chances against them.

= The Foresters (26) hold a four-point lead over second-place Adrian (22) in the race for the NCHA Peters Cup regular-season title. 

= Lake Forest saw its 11-game winning streak snapped with its worst loss of the season. 

= Adrian senior Dino Balsamo, who had an assist tonight, now has 98 career points (41+57).

= Bulldog sophomore newcomers Ruffin (Alaska Fairbanks) and Andrew Bellant (Michigan Tech) are now tied for the team lead with 30 points. Bellant has 12 goals while Ruffin has 22 assists to top Adrian in those categories.

UP NEXT
= These same two teams will conclude their weekend series at 3:05 p.m. Saturday.  

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