The Adrian College American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division 1 men’s hockey team officially opened its 2020-21 schedule with a convincing sweep of visiting Liberty University last week in Arrington Ice Arena. The Bulldogs and Flames were the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the ACHA tournament last season before the COVID-19 virus canceled the championship event in Dallas, Texas.
As the fall semester began, the pandemic continued to wreak havoc on the ACHA schedule as most of the membership across the nation paused its seasons. Adrian defeated the Soo Eagles of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League in a pair of exhibition contests on Oct. 16 (2-0) and Oct. 17 (5-2), but the Bulldogs couldn’t drop the puck for real until Liberty came to town on Nov. 12 and 13. The result was a pair of impressive wins for the Bulldogs (2-0 overall) over the Flames (1-2), 5-2 and 7-0, avenging their two losses from 2019-20 at the hands of LU.
Tyler Fyfe got things started on Thursday night for the ‘Dawgs, notching a power-play goal at the 5:17 mark of the second frame. Chris Donaldson and Sheldon Nolan would assist. Matteo DiGiulio would add another power-play tally four minutes later with his first goal as a Bulldog. Nolan would be awarded the lone assist. DiGiulio would net another at the 12:05 mark of the second with another power-play goal. His second of the night would be assisted by Brenden Stanko and Tyler Fyfe. Liberty would cut the lead down to 3-1 before the end of the second.
Fyfe would notch his second of the game at the 2:46 mark of the second frame after a Liberty goal to cut things to 3-2. Fyfe’s second would be assisted by Dan Stone. Henrik Overvall would add an empty netter as the time ran out for insurance and the ‘Dawgs would skate away with a 5-2 win with Michael Barrett picking up the “W” in net.
The two teams would face off once again on Friday afternoon at Arrington. Mike Finger would kick things off with a goal at the 5:49 mark of the first frame. Stanko would add the assist.
Dominic Moore wasted little time getting the Dawgs on the board once again 30 seconds into the second frame. Sam Spaedtand Stanko would assist. Connor Smith would catch a beauty of a stretch pass from Nolan for his first of the season at the 9:38 mark of the second. Spaedt would add another breakaway goal at the 15:50 mark of the second with an assist from Finger. After two, the ‘Dawgs held a daunting 4-0 lead.
Smith would add his second of the night at the 6:36 mark with assists from Stanko and Nolan. Moore would also add his second of the night in the third period on the power-play. Manny Silverio would be awarded the lone assist. Stanko would add a goal of his own to close out the scoring for the night at the 15:47 mark. Nolan and Finger would assist.
A seven-goal final margin would favor the ‘Dawgs with Barrett picking up another win and a shutout in net.
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