ADRIAN -- Thursday will mark the first time in program history that the Adrian College NCAA men's hockey team will take on Augsburg University from Minneapolis, Minn. The No. 1 Bulldogs (10-1, 6-0 NCHA) will go to battle against the No. 2 Auggies (9-1, 5-1 MIAC). Playoff atmosphere will take place as it will be the fifth game this season where Adrian has faced a ranked opponent by the USCHO.
Adrian is on a ten-game winning streak that began after losing the first game of the season in overtime to No. 3 Utica College on the road. The Bulldogs went on to win the following night sparking the winning streak. Adrian is 3-1 on the season against ranked opponents with wins over No. 3 Utica College, No. 10 Trinity College, and No. 9 Wilkes University. The Bulldogs also went on to blow out Wesleyan University who was receiving votes at the time.
Augsburg has faced two ranked opponents this season earlier in the year with a pair of wins at home against No. 8 St. Norbert and a road win against No. 15 UW-Eau Claire. The Auggies began the year with a 7-0 record before being handed their first loss to Concordia College-Moorhead the night after defeating them 3-1. The team bounced back to sweep Hamline University in a two-game series marking their last contest on December 11.
This season, Adrian has scored a total of 49 goals in 11 games this season to average 4.5 goals per game. The defense has held strong allowing opponents to score only 23 goals this season to average 2.1 per game. The penalty kill has been key for the Bulldogs as they have only allowed five goals on a total of 45 attempts this season for an opponent power play percentage of .111. Ten of Adrian's goals have come on the power play while one has come shorthanded with an empty netter. As a team, the black and gold have controlled the face off circle winning 57% of face offs this season.
On offense the Bulldogs are led by
Alessio Luciani who totals 14 points led by 11 assists which lead the team. The primary goal scorers to begin the season are
Rex Moe and
Ty Enns who total six a piece followed by five from
Ryan Pitoscia. Pitoscia also adds eight assists on the year putting himself second in points and assists on the team while
Jaden Shields also racks up eight assists.
Hunter Wendt has been the leader on the power play with four total goals on the season with all of them coming a many up. On defense,
Terry Ryder leads the team with ten blocked shots followed by seven from Shields and seven from
Matt Eller. In goal, the Bulldogs are led by senior
Cameron Gray who comes in with a 6-0 record with a shutout on the season. So far this season, Gray has recorded 141 saves and has allowed 13 during his six starts.
Augsburg comes into the matchup with 35 total goals scored on the year in ten games averaging 3.5 a game while allowing only 12 goals this season for an average of 1.2 per game. The defense has held strong allowing only two goals on 39 attempts on the penalty kill, but have struggled on the power play with a conversion percentage of on 18.4%.
The Auggies are led by Austin Martinsen on offense who totals a team-high 13 points on three goals and ten assists. Gavin Holland leads the team with eight goals to go with three assists putting himself at second on the team with 11 points. Jack Robbel is projected to start in goal on Thursday as he holds a 6-1 record with a shutout on the season. So far, Robbel has allowed 1.58 goals per game during his eight appearances while making 148 saves.
Augsburg takes on the USA U18 NTDP on Wednesday night in an exhibition before traveling to Adrian while the Bulldogs are playing in its first contest since December 11 where they defeated No. 11 Wilkes in overtime. Thursday contest from the Arrington Ice Arena will take place at 6:00 PM EST and will be streamed on ACTV.
