ADRIAN, Mich. – The Harris Cup Playoffs began on Friday night as the No. 1 Adrian College NCAA men's hockey team took on the No. 8 seeded Lake Forest Foresters. The Bulldogs and the Foresters went to battle as neither team scored until the third period. Adrian kept attacking the net and eventually came away with a 2-1 victory.
The first period went scoreless from both sides. Lake Forest had two opportunities on a power play in the first period, but struggled to put shots on goal keeping the Foresters scoreless. Adrian had an opportunity on a shot from
Zach Goberis where he picked up his own rebound, but the second shot hit the pipe and went wide.
After a scoreless first period, the second period resulted the same. Adrian had a pair of opportunities on the power play but couldn't find the netting to grab a lead. After 40 minutes of play Adrian put 23 of its 45 shots on goal while Lake Forest had 15 shots out of 25 on goal, but the score remained 0-0.
The Bulldogs finally struck first in the third period on a shot from right in front of the net from
Terry Ryder to net his first of the season and take a 1-0 lead. Forty second later,
Ty Enns scored on a power play to take a 2-0 lead on assists from
Jaden Shields and
Sam Ruffin. Lake Forest responded 20 seconds later to put them back within one with plenty of time to play. With 7:57 left to play in the game, the Bulldogs were called for a five-minute major and went back on the penalty kill. The defense held strong and didn't allow a single shot during the penalty kill to lead them to the 2-1 victory.
Cameron Gray got the win in goal for the Bulldogs leading them to a 25-game winning streak. Gray allowed one goal while recording 18 saves on the night.
Adrian takes game one of the two-game quarter final series. Game two of the series will be played tomorrow at 4:00 PM at the Arrington Ice Arena. If the Bulldogs win, they advance to the NCHA Harris Cup semifinal game, but if Lake Forest pulls off the upset, a 20-minute mini game will take place after game two to determine the series winner.
