DE PERE, Wis. – The Adrian College NCAA men's hockey team opened its NCHA road series against St. Norbert College on Friday night in a matchup featuring two of the conference's top teams. The No. 6 Bulldogs faced the No. 5 Green Knights with first place in the NCHA standings on the line. Entering the contest, Adrian held a three-point lead over both Aurora University and St. Norbert, and the Bulldogs delivered a strong performance to earn a 4-1 victory.

Adrian struck early in the first period as Jacob Suede opened the scoring with a goal assisted by Nick O'Hanisain. Later in the period, Bradley Somers extended the lead to 2-0 with helpers from Lucas Deeb and Jack O'Hanisain.

St. Norbert responded in the second period to cut the deficit to 2-1, but the Bulldogs regained momentum in the third. Alec Lovisek scored to restore the two-goal cushion, with Nick O'Hanisain collecting his second assist of the night. Following a St. Norbert timeout with 1:30 remaining and the Green Knights net empty, Adrian won a faceoff that led to a 200-foot empty-net goal by David Clarke to seal the win.

Ryan Piros earned the start in net for the Bulldogs and turned in a strong performance, stopping 35 shots.

With the victory, Adrian remains atop the NCHA standings with 34 points. Trine University moved into second place with 30 points following a regulation win over Aurora University, while St. Norbert and Aurora are tied for third with 28 points.

The Bulldogs will return to action Saturday afternoon to conclude the series against St. Norbert, with puck drop scheduled for 5 p.m. ET.