ADRIAN, Mich.--The nationally-ranked Adrian men's hockey team completed its Northern Collegiate Hockey Association weekends series with visiting Finlandia on Saturday afternoon with a convincing 9-1 victory over the Lions, as 14 different Bulldogs recorded at least one point.
THE BASICS
= Final Score: Adrian College 9, Finlandia University 1
= Location: Weston Rink at Arrington Ice Arena; Adrian, Mich.
= Updated Records: Adrian Bulldogs, 4-1-1 overall (3-1 NCHA South Division); Finlandia Lions, 0-6 overall (0-4 NCHA North Division)
= National Rankings: Adrian--No. 9 United States College Hockey Online (116 points)
TOP 'DAWGS
= Sophomore Andrew Bellant and freshman Zachary Heintz both notched two goals and two assists for a career-high best four points each.
= Sophomore defenseman Andrew McCann had two assists.
= Senior Vincent Paquette, sophomore Sam Ruffin and freshman Alessio Luciani also turned in multiple-point games with a goal and an assist each.
= Freshman goalie Nic Tallarico made 22 saves to get the win (2-0).
= Senior Dino Balsamo led Adrian in the face-off circle with 13 wins and 18 attempts; Ruffin added 10-for-15 and Luciani was 10-of-18.
THE OPPOSITION
= Blake Peavey tallied the Lions' lone goal while on the power play. He won 10 face-offs in 19 attempts.
= Hunter Moreland and Teddy Randell added an assist apiece.
= Tyler Watungwa went 11-for-20 in the face-off dot.
= Zach Erhardt topped Finlandia with five shots on goal.
HOW IT HAPPENED
= Adrian scored three times in the first period and never looked back. Bellant scored a pair of power play goals starting 1 minute and 51 seconds after the opening face-off and then at the 17:11 mark. Heintz made it 3-0 with a goal just 16 seconds left.
= The Bulldogs blew the contest open with five goals in the second period. Five different Bulldogs scored a goal, including Paquette at 2:18 and Luciani and Heintz, both on the power play, to highlight the run.
= Peavey ruined Tallarico's shutout bid with a tip-in goal on the man-advantage at the 14:58 mark of the third period.
= Adrian converted 4-of-6 power play attempts, held the Lions to 1-for-5 and outshot the visitors by a 56 to 23 count.
= As a team, the Bulldogs won 41 of 71 face-off draws.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
= The Bulldogs improve to 26-1 all-time against Finlandia, including a 14-0 mark on home-ice.
= Bellant now leads the AC offense with eight assists and 11 total points, while Balsamo is first with seven goals and second with 10 points.
= The Bulldog power play is 12-of-34 for a .353 clip, leading the country in power play goals and attempts while ranking fourth in efficiency.
= With 21 goals during a season-best three-game winning streak, Adrian takes over the NCAA Division III lead with a 5.33 goals per game.
UP NEXT
= Adrian travels to Aurora University in Illinois next weekend for an important NCHA series. Both games on Saturday and Sunday are set to start at 7 p.m. Eastern/6 Central.
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