ADRIAN, Mich. - The Adrian NCAA women's hockey team begins its run at an eighth-straight Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) regular-season title this weekend, venturing northwest to take on conference-opponent, Marian University.

The Bulldogs and the Sabres will meet on consecutive days in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, dropping the puck on Friday at 5 p.m. ET on Friday, and 1 p.m. ET on Saturday.

While the black and gold were projected as the favorites to claim the NCHA's Kronschnabel Cup, Marian was tabbed seventh in the league's preseason poll.

The Sabres were faced with a challenging start to their 2021-22 season, opening at home against Wisconsin-Stevens Point before traveling to No. 3 Wisconsin-Eau Claire. The team failed to find any offense in either of its first two contests, being outscored 12-0.

Freshman Shelby Tryba and sophomore Bailey Williams have each mustered four shots for Marian, who as a team have only produced 21 total shots compared to its opponent's 111.

Kayla Kolpitcke has made 99 total saves between the pipes for the Sabres, including a career-best 51 against Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

The junior netminder will have her hands full against the high-flying Adrian offense.

Even without their leading scorer Une Bjelland, who is currently playing with her home country of Norway in the Olympic qualifiers, the Bulldogs had no issues getting past (RV) Hamline on the road last weekend.

Callie Wollschlager tallied her first two goals of the season in Adrian's 5-0 win over the Pipers, while Reaghan Pietrowski, Karmen Anderson and Jessica VonRuden also contributed goals for the black and gold.

Aside from Bjelland, Anderson and VonRuden actively lead the Bulldogs with two goals and two assists each, combining for 29 total shots.

In the paint, recently named NCHA Defensive Player of the Week Denisa Jandova paces the conference in both goals-against average (1.02) and save percentage (0.955).

Since 2010, Adrian has held full control over its all-time series with Marian. The Bulldogs are 29-0-1 in their last 30 meetings with the Sabres, including a 10-0 and 8-0 victory back in November of 2019, the last time the locals traveled to Fond du Lac.

Live stats and video will be available for both games.