ADRIAN, Mich. - It all comes down to this. Four teams remain, but only one can earn the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association's (NCHA) automatic bid to the 2022 NCAA Division III hockey tournament. This weekend, at Arrington Ice Arena, hat exclusive ticket will be punched this as Adrian College hosts the Slaats Cup semifinals and final.

Six-time defending conference tournament champion Adrian highlights a star-studded affair that will feature 10 All-Conference selections, five NCHA All-Freshman honorees and the league's Freshman of the Year.

The action commences on Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. with the first semifinal match-up between St. Norbert College and Lake Forest College, then continues later that evening as Aurora University takes on the tenth-ranked Bulldog women's hockey team (20-6-1).

The winners from the semifinal contests will meet on the ice for the Slaats Cup on Saturday at 2 p.m.

St. Norbert and Lake Forest are the two most recent tournament champions not named Adrian. The Foresters won back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015 after the Green Knights captured their only crown in 2013.

All-conference recipients Morgan Olson and Ava Jaschke lead an invigorated St. Norbert squad coming off of a 2021-22 year in which they did not compete. Olson is actively tied for fifth in the conference with 25 points on 19 goals and six assists, while Jaschke's 18 points ranks second in the league among defensemen.

Fellow junior Eve Parker sits between the two in scoring on the Green Knights' line-up with 20 points on five goals and a team-high 15 assists, and Brynn Waisman stands as the team's go-to netminder, having recorded 11 wins in 18 appearances with a 0.940 save percentage and 1.62 goals-against average.

Lake Forest enters the weekend 11-2 in its last 13 games, and is led by All-NCHA goaltender Hannah Turnage. The junior has started 23 of the Foresters 24 games, building a conference fifth-best 0.936 save percentage and 1.89 goals-against average.

Offensively, Marissa Gebauer is the only skater on the roster to have more than nine goals on the season, with 13. Along with nine assists, the junior paces Lake Forest in scoring with 22 points, including three powerplay goals and a shorthanded tally.

During the regular-season the Foresters and the Green Knights met twice at Lake Forest, splitting their two-game series with two one-goal decisions.

Friday's second semifinal game will pin the NCHA's top-ranked offense against the top-ranked defense.

The Aurora Spartans, led by NCHA Freshman of the Year Darci Matson, boast a 3.96 goals-for average, which just a hair most than Adrian's 3.93 mark.

Matson and her older sister Olivia, as well as teammate Peyton Elliott, make up three of the conference's top five spots on the scoring list from second through fourth, respectively. The trio have a combined 100 points, with each of them sporting a rating of plus-19, or better.

In between the pipes, Chiara Pfosi, the lone repeat All-League honoree, has helped guide Aurora to the NCHA's third-best goals-against average (1.73). The senior was a five-time winner of the conference's Defensive Player of the Week accolade during the regular-season, recording a 1.84 goals-against average and a 0.928 save percentage in 23 starts with six shutouts.

Even with all that star-power, the Spartans could never get the league's number one defense in Adrian College.

Led by All-NCHA selections Maya Roy and Sophie Goldberg, the black and gold have held their opponents to 1.26 goals per game while also boasting a 0.931 percentage on the penalty kill. The latter of the two is in the midst of the breakout season in net for the Bulldogs.

Entering the final four, Goldberg holds a 0.86 save percentage and 0.943 goals-against average against conference opponents. Both of those marks are top of the league. Her teammate Roy finished fifth among defensemen in the regular-season with eight points on three goals and five assists.

Offensively, Karmen Anderson (11 goals, 13 assists) and Une Bjelland (14 goals and 10 assists) pace Adrian with 24 points each, followed by Jessica VonRuden (23 points) and Brooke Schembri (20 points).

All three of this weekend's Slaats Cup playoff games will be streamed through Adrian College TV's YouTube page, and live stats will be available through adrianbulldogs.com.

Tickets will be on sale in the lobby of Arrington Ice Arena.