ADRIAN, Mich.--Freshman Zachary Heintz scored perhaps his most important goal in his first season wearing the Black and Gold when he notched the game-winner 65 seconds into overtime with Adrian on the power play, as the Bulldogs rallied for a 5-4 Senior Day victory on Saturday to sweep their Northern Collegiate Hockey Association series with NCHA leader Lake Forest. Adrian, which also won 4-1 less than 24 hours earlier, now trail the Foresters by two points with four games left for both nationally-ranked teams. 

THE BASICS
= Final Score: Adrian College 5, Lake Forest College 4 (overtime)

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

= Updated Records: Adrian Bulldogs, 13-5-3 overall (11-3-2 NCHA-South); Lake Forest Foresters, 16-4-1 overall (13-3 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 10-4-1 on the season.

= Senior defenseman Joey Colatarci assisted on three goals in his final regular-season game at home.  

= Senior Vinny Post also enjoyed a multi-point afternoon with a goal and an assist.

= Sophomore Sam Ruffin, who had an assist, led Adrian in the face-off circle with 14 wins against 25 draws.

= Senior Dino Balsamo also had 14 face-off wins in 30 draws.  

THE OPPOSITION
= Austin Aksoy tallied a goal and an assist while going 5-for-6 on face-offs.

= Drew Shields had a game-best 16 face-off wins in 28 draws.

= Boyd DiClemente stopped 41 shots to drop to 15-3-1 on the season.

= Aaron O'Neill was 12-for-25 in the face-off dot while recording three points on a goal and two assists. 

HOW IT HAPPENED 
= Adrian was 2-for-6 on the power play while Lake Forest was 2-for-5.

= The Bulldogs outshot the Foresters 41 to 26.

= The game-winning goal started when Colatarci started a breakout out of the Bulldogs' defensive zone before passing the puck to Ruffin near center ice. Ruffin then used his speed to get past a couple LFC defenders on the left wing before placing a perfect backdoor pass to a wide-open Heintz for the decisive goal.

= With 6 minutes and 3 seconds left in regulation, Lake Forest's Mark DerManulian sent the game into the extra five-minute period when he intercepted an AC clearing pass at the blue line along the right point and wristed a shot through the air as the puck somehow went over Gray's glove.

= Adrian scored three unanswered goals in the second period after falling behind 2-0 with Aaron O'Neill's power play tally just 42 seconds in. Beginning with Post's goal at 2:01 to get Adrian on the scoreboard, junior Dean Hewines and Balsamo scored 17:41 apart to give the 'Dawgs their first lead at 3-2 after 20 minutes. Balsamo's goal, which was his team-leading 13th on the season, came on the power play with just 18 seconds left.

= In the third period, Lake Forest tied it 3-3 on Aksoy's goal at 6:18 before sophomore defenseman Matt Eller found the back of the net 3:01 later on a shot from the point through traffic and Adrian went ahead again, 4-3.

= Josh Giacomin gave Lake Forest a 1-0 lead on a power play goal at 6:09 of the first period.

= For the second day in a row, Adrian had a goal disallowed by the officials.  

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
= Adrian improves to 30-1-1 lifetime against Lake Forest, including a 17-0-1 record on home-ice.

= The Bulldogs are now 11-0-2 when holding a lead after the second period.

= Eller and Hewines scored their first goals of the season today.

= In a pregame ceremony, the eight-member senior class for the Bulldogs--plus Hewines, who is graduating in three years--was honored for its contributions to the program.

= The Bulldogs have equaled their longest winning streak of the season at five games. During this stretch, Adrian has outscored the opposition 26-11.

= Adrian has tied the 2013-14 squad for the most overtime games in a single season at seven.

= Ruffin leads Adrian in scoring with 31 points and 23 assists--both ranked second in the conference.

= Balsamo tops the NCHA in power-play points with 15 on seven goals and eight assists.

= Colatarci now has 6+12=18 scoring totals to set personal records in a season for goals (6) and points (18).

= Lake Forest loses its first game when leading after the first period (9-1).

UP NEXT
= Adrian begins a four-game road swing at Concordia-Wisconsin on Friday (8 p.m. Eastern) and Saturday (5 p.m. Eastern).   

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