ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- The No. 6 Adrian College Men's ACHA Division 1 hockey team rallied from an early two-goal deficit to defeat No. 3 Ohio University in the ACHA National Quarterfinal round on Sunday, grabbing a 5-2 victory to advance to the semifinals.
The Bobcats came quick out of the gate, scoring on the first shift and twice within the first five minutes of the contest. Down two goals, the Bulldogs responded extremely well, erasing the deficit to tie the game and eventually jumping in front with the lead.
Sebastian Smith opened the scoring for Adrian on the power play, shortly after the Bobcats went up two. Just three minutes later,
Alex Schaumburger potted a rebound in front of the Ohio goal to tie the game at two. Adrian continued to press for the remainder of the opening frame, well enough to draw a late Bobcat penalty to give them the man-advantage. With thirty seconds remaining on the game clock,
Andreas Fleutot ripped home a power play wrister to give the Bulldogs the 3-2 lead at the first intermission.
Adrian, who fell on home ice to the Bobcats earlier in the season, carried the play from then on and strung together a solid defensive effort the rest of the way, backed by incredible goaltending from
Noah Decottignies between the pipes.
Adrian and Ohio held each other scoreless in the middle frame, making for a thrilling final period to determine the winner advancing to this year's Frozen Four.
As the Bulldogs continued to hold off the rival Bobcats,
Dylan Gajewski carried into the zone and buried the insurance goal to give Adrian a 4-2 lead with just under ten minutes remaining. A late push from the Bobcats was shut down by the Bulldog defense, setting up
Justin Jamer to seal the win into the empty-net with 2:10 on the clock.
Decottignies made a plethora of key saves in the win, contributing to a total of 32 in the win for his team.
Ethan McLaughlin collected three helpers on the backend for Adrian.
With Sunday's victory, the Bulldogs have now eliminated the Ohio Bobcats in four-straight ACHA National Championship Tournaments and advance to tomorrow's national semifinal round.
The Bulldogs return to the Final Four for the fifth straight season, and will take on No. 1 Minot State University on Monday, March 17 at 8:00 PM CST/9:00 PM EST at the Centene Community Ice Center; a rematch of the 2023 National Championship game.
