Adrian College men's hockey advances to second national final in program history

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — For the second time in the program's 15 year history, the Adrian College men's hockey team will play for an NCAA Division III national title.

The Bulldogs (30-1) upped their winning streak to 30 games Friday as it beat fourth-ranked Augsburg University, 5-1, in the first Frozen Four game of the day at the Herb Brooks Arena.

"We're excited," said head coach Adam Krug. "It's an opportunity that everybody in the country wants. It's alluded us for some time. This team is special, super tight, we play the game the right way and they're super skilled.

"To get to play at the biggest stage in our level, we're certainly excited for the opportunity."

Adrian has had the most high powered offense in the nation all season, but Friday it was the defense who flexed its muscle against the Auggies (25-5).

The Bulldogs held Augsburg to 21 shots on goal and, in those few great chances it had to get on the board, senior First Team All-American goaltender Cameron Gray was there to make the stop with 20 saves.

"(Gray) is not the stats guy and we've known that since we recruited him," Krug said. "He's kind of a Grant Fuhr type ... goalies out there will appreciate that analogy. Just stop one more than the other guy. To see him only give up one day was good."

The game began as both teams were feeling each other out and getting their skates under them.

Adrian began to ratchet up the attack late in the first period when Second Team All-American senior Sam Ruffin got Adrian on the board with 2:53 to go off assists from senior captain Matt Eller, a First Team All-American defenseman from Ypsilanti, and junior forward Ty Enns.

Under a 1:30 after Ruffin's goal, senior forward Trevor Coykendall from Plymouth scored off assists from freshman forward Ryan Pitoscia and freshman defenseman Matt Couto.

"It started with hard work through that first half of the period," Ruffin said.

The only goal for the Auggies came early in the third period when a turnover lead to a breakaway chance they capitalized on.

The Bulldogs responded two minutes later when senior forward Zach Goberis scored after getting stopped on a great look thirty seconds earlier. Wyoming junior forward Zachary Heintz and sophomore defenseman Ayodele Adeniye had the assists. Junior forward Hunter Wendt of Troy and Goberis added empty net goals.

The Bulldogs entered the Frozen Four as the top-ranked team in the nation.

They are the team to beat with the pressure of the school's first NCAA team championship and the best single-season winning percentage in Division III history within reach.

"It's about taking care of business within ourselves," Krug said. "We know we are being hunted, but we have to make sure we're the hunters as well. You have to have that underdog mentality when you're the No. 1 team in the country. We understand the magnitude of that and teams want to knock us off. It's a matter of our guys sticking to their guns and playing a full 60 minutes to get the job done."

The final will be at 7 p.m. Saturday against SUNY Geneseo.

It's the first championship game Adrian has played since falling, 4-3, to St. Norbert in 2011.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Adrian College men's hockey beats Augsburg in NCAA Division III semis