Success is not just a thought for Bulldog Hockey, it’s the foundation of everything they are today. Three of our teams have already seen postseason success this season, and all three look to continue what they hope will be further successes.
Of the three teams that have already seen postseason success, the team that has truly spearheaded the charge has been the Women’s ACHA D1 program. They went on to win the CCWHA conference championship. On their trip to the title, they beat the University of Michigan in the first round 3-1. In the second round, they played against Penn State and were victorious, the final score being 3-0. It was the championship where they stepped up and fought hard in a tight battle to beat the University of Michigan – Dearborn. The winning goal for the Bulldogs came with 11:46 left in the third period, where Nadia Nickel scored her second goal of the season off the assists from Brenna Ward and Tess McKerrow. They are now moving on to pool play for the ACHA National Tournament, where they will play Arizona State in game one and McKendree University in game two.
The Women’s NCAA hockey squad was dominant in their victory this past weekend against Trine University. This was their third and fourth times playing Trine in less than ten days, as they closed out their regular season with a home and home series against Trine. For their last games of the season, the Bulldogs won the first game at home 9-0 and the second game in Angola 7-0. During the Slaats Cup Quarterfinals, the Bulldogs hosted both games, winning the first game 7-0 and the second game 12-1. In that second game, Adrian College gave up their first goal to the Thunder in four meetings, and the goal came in the first as Kalli Graham for the Thunder scored 15 seconds into the game. With their four wins this season, the Bulldogs were able to increase their win streak against Trine to an astonishing 26 games. Moving on to the Semifinals, the Bulldogs will be hosting Concordia Wisconsin in a single-elimination series here at the Arrington Ice Arena on Saturday, March 1, at 3:00 PM.
The third and final team that showed success this past weekend was the Men’s NCAA team, as they defeated the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) in the Quarterfinals for the Harris Cup. For the first time since 2019, our teams got another Mini-game. The Bulldogs won the first game 4-2, but going into the last four minutes of the game, they were tied 2-2. Ian Amsbaugh rushed down the middle of the ice receiving a pass from Patrick Saini, which Amsbaugh took and went to the backhand for what would become the game-winner with around three minutes left. In the second game, the Raiders won with two goals from freshman Ethan Mann to give them the 2-1 victory. This set us up for the minigame, during which the 20-minute regulation period, there were zero goals and zero penalties. It was the first overtime period where #18 Connor May shined for the Bulldogs. The graduate senior cut back door unmanned for an easy flip into the back of the net, allowing the Bulldogs to move on to the next round. Going into the next round of the Harris Cup, Adrian College will be facing off in a single-elimination series against Aurora University and will play in Geneva, Illinois, on March 1, at 8:00 PM ET.
Don’t forget to support your Bulldogs the rest of this season as they hope to continue their success for the rest of the season.
