Adrian College hockey teams sweep at Winterfest

TOLEDO — The NCAA Division III ninth-ranked Adrian College men's and women’s hockey team kicked off 2022 with a bang on Sunday afternoon with a pair of wins at Fifth/Third Ballpark during Winterfest.

The women defeated Trine, 6-1, before the men topped Milwaukee School of Engineering, 5-3 in Northern Collegiate Hockey Association play.

“It’s something that our program has never had the ability to do, and today was incredible all-around,” said women's coach Shawn Skelly. “The scenery, getting the snow yesterday made the place look even better, and our team put together a great 60-minute effort.”

Leading the charge for the Bulldogs, who are now 7-2-1 and ranked ninth in the nation, was captain Jessica VonRuden, as the senior forward found the back of the net twice, while Karmen Anderson, Lindsey Sorrell, Aileena Dopheide and Abbie Grias all scored once, with Anderson picking up two assists as Dopheide had one.

Sophie Goldberg started and got the win in goal for Adrian, playing 40:27 of the contest in two stretches, turning aside seven of eight shots while Gwen Bowler played 19:33, stopping all 10 shots she faced.

“Getting that point production from those players consistently is ideal, and we had a pretty solid game,” Skelly said. “All around, super pleased with the group and excited for the future.”

Barely three minutes into the game, Adrian got on the board when Lindsey Sorrell converted a one-timer from the doorstep of Trine’s goal crease to put her team ahead, but the Thunder (4-10-1) managed to level the game when Michelle Byker took advantage of a misplay by AC in its own zone to put a shot past Goldberg with 9:17 gone.

Adrian countered less than two minutes later, as Dopheide converted a chance in close off a feed from Sydney Daversa to retake the lead and VonRuden got on the board with 3:47 to go in the frame when she fired a one-timer from inside the right circle past Trine goalie Emily Nettesheim.

Shortly after failing to convert on a powerplay chance for the Bulldogs, VonRuden broke into the clear and buried the chance to push the lead to 4-1 at the 7:37 mark. Barely eight minutes later, Anderson found the back of the net when Annika Hanson hit her with a feed in close.

Grias closed the scoring with 40 seconds left in the second period, picking up a loose puck in neutral ice and breaking in alone before rifling a shot past Nettesheim to cap the scoring.

“We still wanted to do our best and play to the best of our abilities and I think we really showed it out there today,” VonRuden said. “We had a little bit of a rough start, but I think we figured it out and finally put some pucks in the net there.”

Men's team rallies for win

The NCAA Division III top-ranked Bulldogs came back from a one-goal deficit twice against the Raiders to complete an AC sweep on Sunday.

“It’s so special and so fun to watch the guys, watch their faces when they come in and they get to see it for the first time, see the cool sweaters they’re going to be wearing tonight,” said men’s coach Adam Krug. “It means a lot to the guys and we’ve had some of those guys who have been through a lot the past two years.”

Senior forward Zach Goberis found the back of the net twice, including the put away tally, while Sam Ruffin, Alessio Luciani and Rex Moe each scored one goal with Luciani and Moe both tacking on an assist.

Adrian, which is now 12-1 and has won 12 straight games since a season-opening loss to third-ranked Utica, had Cameron Gray get the call in between the pipes and pick up the victory, stopping 19 of 22 shots from the Raiders (3-7-2) in a game where the first four goals combined between the two squads all come on the powerplay.

MSOE struck first with Ty Enns off for interference, the Raiders’ Matt Hanewall cut through AC’s defense and laced one past Gray, but with Adrian on its first powerplay due to a holding call on Dylan Hadfield, Ruffin equalized at the 10:30 mark past MSOE’s goalie Darius Bell.

The Raiders took the lead back shy of four minutes into the second period on a Christian Sabin powerplay goal when he took advantage of a bad bounce off a stanchion and put the puck into the open net with Gray out of position. Moe countered to equalize the game at 8:38, setting off a string of three Adrian goals in 2:36, as Goberis put his side ahead for good 55 seconds after Moe’s tally, which Luciani followed with another goal at the 11:14 mark.

It took over a full period for another goal to get on the board, courtesy of MSOE’s Kyle Herbster cutting Adrian’s lead to one with a little more than five minutes to go. Even so, with MSOE pulling Bell late to get the extra attacker, it wasn’t enough before Goberis’ put the dagger home on the Raiders with seven seconds left.

“It was an honor being out here with this program," Goberis said. "We were supposed to come out here last year, but COVID canceled that, so to be able to come out here and get this thing done, Toledo put on a great event for us, we were treated like royalty and it was amazing. At the end of the day, we’re just happy about the dub.”

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Adrian College hockey teams top Trine, MSOE at Winterfest