Ranked No. 1 in the country most of the season, Adrian moved one step closer to finishing the season on top after putting away Hobart 7-4 Saturday night in an NCAA Division III quarterfinal game at home.
The Bulldogs scored four goals in the second period to take control and punch their ticket to the Frozen Four for the first time since 2017.
Cameron Gray stayed unbeaten in goal, stopping 24 shots. He has won 21 games this season as the goaltender of the Bulldogs.
Zach Goberis got the home crowd of 1247 energized when he scored in the opening period to put the Bulldogs ahead 1-0.
Adrian went into the second period tied at 1-1 before Alessio Luciani scored to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 advantage. Adrian never look back and went on to stretch its winning streak to 29 games.
Matus Spodniak scored twice in the win and Goberis tallied three assists to give himself a four-point night.
Zachary Hentz dished out three assists while Luciani recorded an assist to go along with his goal as Adrian, the No. 1 team in the DCU/USCHO NCAA Division III men’s poll, improved to 20-6-2 on the season.
Hobart saw its season end at 20-6-2. Ranked seventh nationally, the Statesmen got goals from Jake Gresh, Matthew Iasenza, Aaron Maguyon and Brenden Howell.
Four other players recorded a point while Liam Lascelle made 14 saves.
Hobart held a 28-26 advantage in shots and its senior class of Gresh, Lascelle, Maguyon, Chase Bell, Mark Benemerito, Blake Coffey, Joe Halstrom, PA Martineau, Dan Sliney and Zach Tiney saw their college careers end Saturday. Those seniors won 61 games while at Hobart.
Auggies headed to Frozen Four
It’s been more than 20 years since Augsburg last played in the Frozen Four. That wait ended Saturday night as the Auggies skated past St. Norbert 4-1 in an NCAA quarterfinal game to punch a ticket to Lake Placid.
The Auggies (25-4), who finished as the runner-up in the MIAC tournament after winning the regular-season crown, dominated the third period to secure their win.
They scored three times in the period to beat the Green Knights for the third time this season and advance to the national semifinal round for the first time since 1998. It will be Augsburg’s third appearance overall as it also advanced there in 1984. Both times the Auggies finished fourth.
Fourth-ranked Augsburg had never beaten St. Norbert in the NCAA tournament, losing in its previous four appearances against it, but the storyline played out much differently this time around in what has been a special first season for Augsburg under the direction of first-year head coach Greg May.
It appeared, though, early in the game that perhaps St. Norbert would get the job done again. It led 1-0 after one period of play before Augsburg tied the game in the second.
Austin Dollimer gave the Auggies the lead for good at the 14:01 mark of the third and insurance goals by Erik Palmqvist and Austin Martinsen finished off the win.
Samuel Vyletelka made 22 saves for the Auggies for his 11th win of the year.
Tim Nicksic scored the lone goal for the Green Knights and Colby Entz made 22 saves. St. Norbert, ranked sixth nationally, ends its year with a 24-7 record.
Up Next: It will be an all-west region matchup in a 2 p.m. national semifinal Friday afternoon in Lake Place as Adrian will battle Augsburg for the right to move on and play for the national title. This will be the second meeting of the year for the two teams. They last played on Dec. 30, with Adrian coming away with a 5-2 win at home. Geneseo and the University of New England will play in the other national semifinal game.
