Seahawks top No. 2 Adrian to advance to Codfish Bowl Championship

BOSTON--Salve Regina University scored three goals in the opening 4 minutes and 32 seconds of the third period to break open a close game in a 6-2 victory Friday over Adrian College in the second game of the 53rd annual Codfish Bowl men's hockey tournament hosted by UMASS-Boston.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Salve Regina University 6, Adrian College 2

Location: Edward T. Barry Ice Rink at the Clark Athletic Center; Boston, Mass.

Records: Salve Regina Seahawks 9-3-2 overall; Adrian Bulldogs 8-4 overall

National Rankings: Adrian--#2 D3hockey.com, #2 USCHO.com polls; Salve Regina--"receiving votes" in D3hockey (2 points) and USCHO (3 points).

TOP PERFORMERS
Sophomores Dino Balsamo and Ryan Cusin each had a goal and an assist for Adrian.

Junior Trevor Boyd and Balsamo tied for the team lead with six shots on goal.

Senior assistant captain Taylor McCloy (13-for-19) and junior Chase Matson (9-of-14) dominated the face-off circle.

Goaltender Blake Wojtala stopped 38 of 40 shots he faced, including making 16 saves alone in the second period when Adrian knotted the score 2-2.

Jack Billings had a game-high four points on two goals and two assists, with five shots, a plus-5 rating and five face-offs won in nine draws.

Pat Thompson added two tallies and an assist.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Adrian outshot SRU by a 40 to 24 count, but the Seahawks scored a pair of shorthanded goals.

Shaun Patry scored the go-ahead goal to break a 2-2 deadlock at the 1:10 mark of the third period, and Colin Clapton made it 4-2 just 21 seconds later.

Thompson added insurance goals later in the game on a short-hander and empty-netter.

Billings staked SRU to leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the first period after capitalizing on turnovers. He opened the scoring at the midpoint when he forced an AC miscue at his defensive blueline and skated the other way on a breakaway to beat freshman Nikita Babintsev through the goalie pads for the shorthanded marker. Then with 33 seconds left, Timothy Sweeney controlled a loose puck as the Bulldogs defense tried to clear their zone along the left-wing boards and fed Billings alone in the slot to restore the one-goal lead.

Adrian got on the scoreboard at 18:13 of the first period as Balsamo pounced on a rebound in the goal crease to beat Wojtala to the puck.

Cusin scored the only goal of the second period to pull Adrian even at 2-2, wristing a shot from the right face-off circle over the left glove-hand of Wojtala.

Adrian will play Williams College in Saturday's third-place game at 1 p.m., as the Ephs lost 9-3 to the host Beacons in the Codfish opener today. Meanwhile the Seahawks will take on the Beacons to try and repeat as Codfish Bowl Champions.