Box Score HANCOCK, Mich. -- After almost two weeks since the Bulldogs last hit the ice, the No. 1 Adrian College NCAA men's hockey team returned to NCHA conference play on Friday night. The Bulldogs made the long trip to Finlandia University where they managed to come away with a 6-1 victory over the Lions. Adrian welcomed semester transfer
Dante Spagnuolo to the team where he managed to net a goal in his first appearance as a Bulldog.
It didn't take long to get the offense going as Adrian managed to grab a lead early in the first period.
Jaden Shields picked his first goal of the seasom on assists from
Sam Ruffin and
Hunter Wendt to take a 1-0 lead. That was it for the Bulldogs in the first period after putting 13 shots on goal to start the game.
Adrian came out hunting in the second period picking up four goals while allowing one to lead 5-1 heading into the second intermission.
Alessio Luciani was assisted by Ruffin to go up 2-0 with just over a minute played in the period followed by a goal from
Chase Spencer with just under four minutes played in the period. Luciani picked up his second point of the game with an assist on the Spencer goal, and Spagnuolo grabbed his first point as a Bulldog with a secondary assist. Five minutes later,
Matus Spodniak found the back of the net to lead 4-0 followed by another goal by Shields to jump up 5-0. With time winding down in the second period, Finlandia scored its first goal of the game to head into the break with the score 5-1 in favor of the Bulldogs.
In the third period, Adrian extended the lead to 6-1 on a goal by Spagnuolo to net his first as a Bulldog, and give himself a two-point night. The rest of the third period was silent, but the Bulldogs locked up the 6-1 victory in game-one of the weekend series.
Nic Tallarico got the start in goal for Adrian allowing just one goal on 11 total shots faced while recording ten saves as he moves to 3-1 on the season.
The Bulldogs will wrap up the two-game road series tomorrow at 2:00 PM as they look to sweep the Lions to continue its winning streak and stay undefeated in NCHA play.
