ADRIAN, Mich.--Nationally-ranked Adrian advanced to next weekend's Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Harris Cup Semifinals after sophomore Andrew Bellant netted a hat trick in the Bulldogs' 5-3 victory Saturday to eliminate visiting Aurora, winning the series two-game-to-none. Adrian won last night 7-5.

THE BASICS
= Final Score: Adrian College 5, Aurora University 3

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

= Updated Records: Adrian Bulldogs, 19-5-3 overall (No. 1 NCHA-South Seed); Aurora Spartans, 12-9-6 overall (No. 4 NCHA-South Seed)

= NCAA Division III National Rankings: Adrian is No. 6 (189 points) by U.S. College Hockey Online and No. 6 in the PairWise

TOP 'DAWGS
= Senior Dino Balsamo had two points on a goal and an assist while posting game highs of 18 face-off wins and 30 draws.

= Senior defenseman Joey Colatarci produced two assists.

= Junior goalie Cameron Gray improved to 16-4-1 on the season after making 22 stops. Thirteen of his saves came during AU power play chances.

THE OPPOSITION
= Brayden Sampson led the visitors with a pair of goals.

= Larry Jungwirth had a goal and an assist.

= Connor Chilton contributed a pair of assists.  

HOW IT HAPPENED 
= Adrian peppered Aurora's net with a 42-25 shots on goal advantage.

= The teams were tied 1-1 after 20 minutes and 3-3 after the second period before Bellant completed his "hatty" 3 minutes and 59 seconds into the third period to put Adrian ahead for good on a feed from Colatarci.

= Freshman Zachary Heintz scored an insurance tally on assists from senior Bryce Van Horn and sophomore Sam Ruffin at the 9:09 mark. Ruffin won a defensive zone face-off and Van Horn skated up the ice before eventually giving Heintz a centering pass from the right wing.

= Adrian took a 3-1 advantage in the second period on goals by Bellant and Balsamo on the power play 3:33 apart by the 8:55 mark.

= But Jungwirth answered at 15:06 on a pass from Adam Keyes and Sampson at 16:35 from Chilton--both on the power play--to draw the Spartans even at 3-all.

= Aurora stayed in the contest by going 3-for-6 on the power play while Adrian was 1-for-3.

= In the first period, Bellant scored his first goal of the afternoon at 12:29 before Sampson equalized with 2:08 remaining.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
= Adrian improves to 12-0 all-time versus Aurora, including a 6-0 mark at home.

= Aurora is making its second consecutive appearance in the Harris Cup playoffs in this, the Spartans' sixth season of NCAA existence.

= The Bulldogs are 32-6 lifetime in the conference playoffs.

= Balsamo (18g, 20a) and Bellant (17g, 21a) have forged a tie for the Adrian scoring lead with 38 points.

= Ruffin tops the Bulldogs with 27 assists and is third with 36 points.

= The Spartans came into the weekend leading the NCHA with 2.04 goals allowed per game, but the Bulldogs piled up 12 goals on the nation's eighth-best scoring defense.

= Adrian owns an 11-game winning streak--the team's longest since reeling off 16 during the 2017-18 campaign.

UP NEXT
= Adrian will host Trine in the NCHA Harris Cup Semifinals next Saturday at 7 p.m. The Thunder defeated Lake Forest, 1-0, in the mini-game after the Foresters won 3-1 earlier tonight; Trine won Friday at LFC 5-4 in overtime. Stay tuned to AdrianBulldogs.com and socials for official ticket information and updates.

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