UTICA, N.Y. – The Adrian College NCAA men's hockey team opened up its season on the road on Friday afternoon at Utica University. It was a defensive battled between the No. 2 Bulldogs and the No. 6 Pioneers. The season opener ended in a 0-0 tie after an overtime period. The Bulldogs went on to win the shootout, 1-0.
 
Riley Murphy led the Adrian offense with seven shots on goal on Friday night. Zachary Heintz and Jacob Suede each added five shots on goal while Bradley Somers totaled four.
 
Adrian struggled on the power play as they finished 0-for-6 on the night with four total shots. The penalty kill stepped up for the Bulldogs holding Utica scoreless on six power play opportunities.
 
Dershahn Stewart was the star in goal for the Bulldogs where he finished the night with 41 total saves. Stewart totaled 13 saves in the first period, 15 in the second, ten in the third, and three in the five-minute overtime.
 
The Bulldogs and Pioneers went into a shootout where Mathew Rehding found the back of the net to score the only goal.
 
Adrian and Utica will look to decide the series tomorrow afternoon with a rematch scheduled for 2:00 PM.