St. Norbert Routs Adrian to Advance to Ninth Frozen Four in 12 Years

From Sports Information Director, March 15, 2014 | Men's Hockey
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College advanced to its ninth NCAA Division III Frozen Four in 12 seasons with a convincing 7-2 win over Adrian College in a NCAA Division III Tournament quarterfinal held at Cornerstone Community Center.

The Green Knights (26-3-1) built a 5-0 lead after two periods, outshooting the Bulldogs 26-7 in the first two periods. Adrian saw its season end at 22-3-4, with two of its losses coming to St. Norbert.

St. Norbert, winners of nine straight games, will face either Norwich University or Geneseo State University in a national semifinal at 4 p.m. EDT Friday, March 21 at Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston, Maine.

St. Norbert survived about a four-minute flurry early in the game when Adrian had sustained pressure in its offensive zone. The Bulldogs missed wide on a couple of early scoring chances, and St. Norbert eventually scored when Joe Perry converted a wrister from the left slot at the 14:11 mark for his 20th goal of the season and 100th career point.

The Green Knights moved ahead 2-0 when a pileup in front of Adrian net resulted in an Erik Cooper power-play goal at the 16:15 mark.

St. Norbert took control in the second period, scoring three goals. Cullen Bradshaw finished a rebound for a power-play goal at 5:03. Ross Pavek took a pass from Mason Baptista and finished from out front at 7:10. Chris Rial put the Green Knights comfortably ahead at 5-0 when he took advantage of a collision by Adrian goaltender Scott Shackell and another Bulldog player, finding an open net at 12:22.

The third period, which was marred by 10 penalties, saw each team scored twice. Adrian's Kevin Balas scored at 9:32, but St. Norbert got the goal back on a Michael Hill goal at 11:22. Adrian scored a 6-on-4 extra-attacker power-play goal by Justin Basso at 15:01. The Green Knights closed out the scoring on a 5-on-3 power-play goal by Perry at 16:32.

Cooper added three assists for a four-point game. Perry added an assist, Bradshaw had two assists and Sam Higgins had three assists for three-point games.

David Jacobson improved to 22-1-1 on the season by making 12 saves. Shackell dropped to 11-1-1 on the season with 33 saves. St. Norbert was 3-for-8 on the power play, while Adrian was 1-for-4.