LAKE PLACID, N.Y. -- The Adrian College NCAA men's hockey finally hoisted the National Championship trophy for the first time in program history. Its been a long time coming for the Bulldogs after being named the NCAA DIII Runner-Up in 2011 while also appearing in two more Frozen Four tournaments in later seasons. Adrian took on No. 3 SUNY Geneseo on Saturday night coming away with a 5-2 victory.

Head coach Adam Krug made an early call to challenge a penalty five minutes into the game. He won that challenge to put the Bulldogs on the power play after Geneseo was given a five-minute major penalty for hitting to the head. Sam Ruffin scored a power play goal to lead 1-0, but Geneseo bounced back to score shorthanded and tie the game 1-1. Alessio Luciani gave Adrian the lead on the same power play to go up 2-1. It continued to be an eventful first period with Trevor Coykendall putting the Bulldogs up 3-1.

With the lead in the second period, Adrian was held scoreless. Geneseo made it a game turning the score to 3-2 heading into the third period. 

In the third period, freshman Ryan Pitoscia gave the Bulldogs a two goal lead again. It got late in the period and Geneseo was forced to pull its goaltender with two minutes left to play. With 11 seconds left on the clock, Ruffin netted another goal to lock up the 5-2 victory. 

Matt Eller, Trevor Coykendall, and Cameron Gray were named to the All-Tournament Team with Sam Ruffin receiving the MVP Award for the Tournament. 

Gray finished the game with 28 saves in goal on the night to move to 23-0 on the season and be the only goaltender in DIII with a perfect record at the end of the season.

This is the first NCAA National Championship for the Adrian College Athletic Department. Head coach Adam Krug was greeted after the game on the bench by former Adrian College men's hockey coach Ron Fogarty for an emotional celebration.

Adrian will head into the 2022-23 season as the reigning Nationals Champions.