GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The Adrian College Men's ACHA Division 1 hockey team captured their eighth GLCHL Conference Playoff Title in program history, after defeating Calvin University, 3-1, in the Championship game on Saturday. The Bulldogs, who finished first place in the GLCHL Conference during the regular season, took down Oakland University, 15-0, and Purdue University Northwest, 4-2, on their way to championship victory against Calvin.
The Bulldogs opened up the Playoff Tournament with a matchup against No. 8 seed, Oakland, in Thursday's quarter-final at the Arrington Ice Arena. Adrian went to work as they gathered fifteen goals on 106 shots. Forwards
Ethan Klemen and
Matteo DiGiulio each potted two goals, while
Brenden Stanko collected a hat-trick and two assists, and
Connor Smith finished with a goal and five assists in the contest.
Sam Spaedt,
Brodie Thornton,
Sebastian Smith,
Ethan McLaughlin,
Cameron Armstrong, and
Dylan Gajewski all found the back of the net as well, before freshman defenseman,
Nathaniel Mott, would add his first collegiate goal in the third period for the Bulldogs. Goaltender
Noah Decottignies made 10 saves to earn the victory and advance the Bulldogs to the semi-final game on Friday night.
The two semi-final games and the championship game of the GLCHL Conference Playoff Tournament were hosted by Calvin University at the Eagles Ice Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Semi-final game one featured the Bulldogs and the No. 4 seed, Purdue University Northwest Pride, while semi-final game two featured No. 2 seed, Grand Valley State University and No. 3 seed, Calvin University. With the Bulldogs being the No. 1 seed, home ice advantage was theirs for the duration of the tournament.
The Bulldogs and Pride met earlier in the season, with Adrian collecting the sweep back in December. In Friday's matchup, Adrian would open the scoring on an early tally by
Connor Smith. The Pride would answer back at the end of the period on a power play goal to make it 1-1 heading into the second frame. Adrian would then find twine twice more in the second period on goals from the Smith brothers to go ahead, 3-2, after two periods of play. Amidst the third period, Stanko would pot an insurance goal for the Bulldogs, securing the 4-2 win. Decottignies earned the triumph in goal to advance the Bulldogs to Saturday's championship game against Calvin, who defeated GVSU in their semi-final game.
Adrian, who previously secured the GLCHL Conference Playoff Championship seven times in twelve seasons, were looking to add another title to their resume with an always exciting rivalry matchup with the Calvin University Knights. The Bulldogs opened up the championship game with a goal from freshman forward,
Justin Jamer, to make it 1-0 after one period of play. After a back and forth second period, the Knights would even things up late in the second frame. Near the midway point of the final frame, freshman forward,
Dylan Gajewski, would rip one home to put Adrian up, 2-1. The Bulldogs would close it out with some stellar defense and an empty net goal from
Sebastian Smith to secure the GLCHL Conference Playoff title for Adrian. Decottignies made 24 saves on 25 shots for the winning team, and earned himself the GLCHL Conference Playoff Tournament Most-Valuable-Player award post-game.
With the win, the MD1 Bulldogs, who now hold eleven GLCHL Regular Season Championships and eight GLCHL Playoff Championships, also punched their ticket to the ACHA National Tournament in Boston, Massachusetts next month. The Bulldogs currently rank No. 4 in the nation, and will await seeding and schedule updates leading up to the tournament. In the meantime, the Bulldogs will hold a Nationals tune-up game against No. 7, Indiana Tech, this coming Thursday at 7:30 PM at the Arrington Ice Arena. This will mark the Bulldogs' last game of the season before shipping off to Boston on March 16th to compete for the National Title.
