ADRIAN, Mich. -- The No. 1 seed for the NCHA Harris Cup Playoffs are on the line this weekend as the No. 1 Adrian College NCAA men's hockey team hosts the No. 5 St. Norbert College men's hockey team. The Bulldogs and the Green Knights are the only two teams in Division III with 20 wins so far this season and are the only teams receiving votes in the recent USCHO.com poll. Adrian currently comes in with a 22-1 record while the Knights are 20-3 on the year. Both teams support huge winning streaks with the Bulldogs' at a 22-game winning streak, and St. Norbert at a 19-game winning streak. 

Both teams sit undefeated in NCHA play with a 16-0 record. However, Adrian holds a two-point lead in the standings over St. Norbert due to the Green Knights having a pair of overtime victories. The NCHA standings are based on a three-point system where team collect three points for a regulation win, two for an overtime win, and one for an overtime loss.

Cameron Gray for Adrian was named NCHA Defensive Player of the Week with his pair of wins over Aurora University last weekend. Gray racked up 73 total saves in two games for the Bulldogs while only allowing four goals.

Adrian leads the country in goals with 137 on the year and average 5.96 per game this season. St. Norbert responds with 5.00 goals per game and rank fourth in the country. The Bulldogs also lead the country in winning percentage (.957), points (379), and assists (242) while ranking second in scoring margin at 4.09. St. Norbert is ranked fifth in DIII with a scoring margin of 2.78.

The Bulldogs are led by Alessio Luciani who leads the team in assists (23) and points (36) while holding the highest +/- at +34. Ty Enns and Rex Moe lead Adrian in goals with 16 a piece followed by 13 from Luciani and Ryan Pitoscia. Gray holds a perfect 14-0 record on the season with a shutout. He's averaged 2.23 goals against with 10 of his 31 allowed goals on the penalty kill. He's recorded 336 saves on the season so far to hold a save percentage of .916.

St. Norbert has the DIII leader in points in Peter Bates on their front line. Bates has scored 24 goals with 24 assists in 23 games this season. Liam Fraser is also a solid threat for St. Norbert with his 37 points on 18 goals and 19 assists while Peyton Frantti has 13 goals and 23 assists for 36 points. The Green Knights have split time between a pair of goaltenders with Cold Entz supporting a 9-0 record with 1.73 goals against average, and Johnny Roberts with an 11-2 record and a goals against average of 2.28.

St. Norbert's three losses came at the beginning of the season losing the opener 4-3 to UW-Stevens Point at home before being swept on the road at Augsburg by scores of 3-1 and 4-1. Adrian's lone loss also came at the beginning of the season with a 3-2 overtime loss to No. 3 Utica on the road while 12 starters were missing due to COVID-19 protocols. The only similar nonconference opponent between Adrian and St. Norbert was Augsburg. While St. Norbert dropped two games to Augsburg, the Bulldogs defeated the No. 4 Auggies 5-2 at the Arrington Ice Arena.

Dating back to 2010, St. Norbert holds the all-time series lead at 13-10. Adrian sits on a two-game winning streak during the series with a 7-4 record at home. The last contest was in Adrian during the Harris Cup Championship in 2020 where the Bulldogs came away with a 3-2 victory to pick up the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Both teams have already clinched home ice advantage for the quarterfinals and semifinals of the NCHA Harris Cup Playoffs, but the No. 1 seed is still on the line.

Adrian just needs to win one of the two games in regulation to lock up the No. 1 seed in the NCHA for the playoffs. Friday night will be a Blackout where the Adrian College men's hockey team and the Athletic Department encourage fans to wear black.

The two-game series between No. 1 Adrian and No. 5 St. Norbert is slatted to begin on Friday, February 11 at 7:00 PM with game two on Saturday at 3:00 PM.