St. Norbert Rolls Past Adrian in No. 1 vs. No. 2 Battle

From Sports Information Director, January 31, 2014 | Men's Hockey
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College moved into sole possession of first place in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association when it throttled Adrian College 11-1 in the first game of a two-game league series between the nation's top-two ranked teams at the Cornerstone Community Center.

The Green Knights (17-2-1, 12-1 NCHA), ranked No. 2 in the USCHO.com and D3hockey.com Division III polls, scored two goals in the first 100 seconds of the game to take control against No. 1-ranked Adrian (16-1-3, 10-1-2). St. Norbert moved into first place by two points ahead of Adrian, which sustained the worst loss in its program's seven-year history.

Cullen Bradshaw scored his tenth goal of the season at the 1:14 mark, and Marian Fiala followed with his fourth goal of the season at 1:40 for a 2-0 lead. The Green Knights sent the partisan crowd of 1,481 into full throat when Pijus Rulevicius scored on a chip past Adrian netminder James Hamby at 14:04. Blake Thompson then put home a rebound on a power-play goal at 15:23 for a 4-0 lead, a score which chased Hamby.

The Green Knights took command of the second period much as they did to open the game, when Tyler Zepeda scored 72 seconds into the frame with a power-play goal. Zepeda scored again at 2:49 for a 6-0 St. Norbert lead. St. Norbert added a pair of power-play markers later in the second for an 8-0 edge, with Patrick McCadden and Ross Pavek scoring at 14:35 and 17:22, respectively.

Erik Cooper scored his 11th goal of the season at the 3:07 mark of the third period for a 9-0 edge. Adrian's Zach Wilson got the Bulldogs on the board at 9:12, but Zepeda registered a hat trick with a shorthanded breakaway goal at 13:27 as the Green Knights were killing off a major penalty. Mason Baptista scored a power-play goal at 16:36 to close out the scoring.

St. Norbert finished the game a lusty 5-for-6 on the power play, and killed off Adrian's five chances, which included a 5-minute major and a 5-on-3 chance.

Zepeda added an assist, while Baptista registered three assists to record four-point games. Thompson and Fiala both had two assists, while George Malliaras had three assists for three-point games. Pavek, Bradshaw, McCadden and Cooper also had assists for multi-point games.

David Jacobson made 27 saves in net for the Green Knights. Hamby, who re-entered the game to work the third period, finished with 15 saves in 35:23. Scott Shackell made 16 stops in 24:37.