The Adrian Bulldogs made program history this year, advancing to the national title game and hosting the final weekend. Six different Adrian skaters finished in the top 12 in scoring nationally, including freshman defender Kelly O’Sullivan.
The NCHA freshman of the year, O’Sullivan finished the season among the best in the country. She was first in scoring among rookies and third in scoring among blueliners, and was named an ACHA first-team All-American. Her 26 assists were best among freshmen and tied for eighth overall in the country. The next-closest freshman defenseman trailed O’Sullivan by 19 points in the national rankings. She had 11 multi-point games, including a three-point game in the final series of the year against Lake Forest.
On an already potent offense, O’Sullivan carved out a spot as a threat from the blue line. She and linemate Sydney Smith combined for 22 goals and 54 assists. She finished the season with a plus-48 rating (fourth-best on the team), having scored two game-winning goals and amassing 129 shots on goal for the season.
She was named to the Panther/Cardinal Classic All-Tournament team after tallying two power-play goals in the first period to help lift Adrian over Utica and was also named to the D3hockey.com National Team of the Week for her performance.
Adrian completed the first-ever unbeaten and untied season in NCHA history, going 18-0-0. They won their third-consecutive NCHA regular season title and second-consecutive tournament championship Slaats Cup. She had three assists in the regular-season title-clinching series against Lake Forest and added a goal and two assists over the course of the playoffs.
Congratulations to Kelly O’Sullivan, the USCHO Division III rookie of the year.
