No national championship was won over the weekend, but Adrian did make a statement with a sweep of Utica on the road in a series featuring two top 10 teams.
The Bulldogs capped off the weekend with a 3-2 win Saturday night. Kevin Entmaa stopped 35 shots, and Cory Dunn came through with a goal and an assist. Dino Balsamo stepped up as well, dishing out a pair of assists.
Adrian led 3-0 before Utica finally scored in the third period as it dominated the Pioneers. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series, 3-0.
Entmaa went over the 1,500-save milestone in the victory. Dunn is now a point shy of 100 for his career. He has 80 assists in the 90 games he has played at Adrian. Balsamo already has four points this season, with three coming off assists.
Jared Domin scored a power-play goal in Saturday’s victory, his second of the season and career. Domin is only a freshman and has helped fuel an offense that is averaging nearly 40 shots per game.
The third-ranked Bulldogs won Friday’s season opener, 3-1, over the seventh-ranked Pioneers.
A tie is as good as a win
Most of the time a tie isn’t something to write home about. But in this case, it was.
Trine skated to a 2-2 tie against No. 2 Wisconsin-Stevens Point Saturday on the road.
Up against a Pointers team that played in the Frozen Four a season ago, the Thunder tied the score at 1-1 on a goal by Corey Robertson in the first period.
Trine led 2-1 when Blake Robertson punched in his first goal of the year. The Pointers tied the game in the second.
The Thunder managed to grind out a tie despite being outshot, 46-12. Brett Young was phenomenal between the pipes, racking up 44 saves to help preserve the tie.
Historic night for Lions
Finlandia is 1-0 for the first time since the 2011-12 campaign after stunning Wisconsin-River Falls, 3-1, Saturday.
Teddy Randell scored the first goal of the night and helped get things going for the Lions, who won their first ever game over the Falcons. Randell scored off the power play 55 seconds into the second period. Kendall Bolen-Porter and Connor Hannan also scored for the Lions, while Marcus Gloss made 29 saves.
Finlandia has already matched last season’s win total. The victory was its first since a 2-1 win over Wisconsin-Superior on Jan. 16.
Cooper shines for Blugolds
Steen Cooper dished out two assists to come through with the first multipoint night of his career with the Blugolds and help Wisconsin-Eau Claire knock off Lake Forest, 3-1. Zach Dyment was solid in goal, stopping 15 shots. He improved to 2-0 on the season.
Scott Munro scored the fifth goal of his career in the win and, Lucas Kohls also punched in a goal in the victory as Wis.-Eau Claire improved to 2-0 on the season. The Blugolds opened the season with a 3-1 win over the Milwaukee School of Engineering. They started the night by unveiling their WIAC championship banner.
Andrew McGlynn highlighted the night with the first two goals of his collegiate career.
Hat Trick Sensation
Alex Rodriguez couldn’t have asked for a better way to open the 2018-19 season. The Augsburg star had a hat trick in each of the first two games for the Auggies.
On Saturday, Rodriguez scored three goals in a 5-3 win over Hamline. Austin Dollimer and Eric Brenk also scored goals for the Auggies, who are off to a 2-0 start.
In Friday’s opener, Rodriguez scored his first goal in the second period and kept on rolling from there, adding his final two goals in the third period.
Daniil Gerasimov made 17 saves to pace the Auggies in the net.
Rivalry Showdown
St. Thomas and Saint John’s matched up for the first time this season on Friday, and the Tommies prevailed, 3-2, in this showdown between MIAC rivals in the conference showcase.
Colton Berg, Luke Radetic and Broydon Stufko all scored for the Tommies, who opened their season with a huge win. They are the reigning regular-season conference champions. Andrew Rohkohl came up big in goal for St. Thomas, stopping 33 shots. He played the entire 60 minutes in goal.
Big night for Bianchi
Mario Bianchi rose to the occasion for Concordia in its 4-3 overtime thriller against Saint Mary’s Saturday in the MIAC showcase. Bianchi had a hand in three of his team’s four goals, including one in the first period to tie the score at 1-1. Bianchi also delivered the game-winning goal in overtime, scoring a little over three minutes into the extra session.
