Bulldogs stymie Seahawks 2-0

ADRIAN, Mich.--Adrian senior goaltender Kevin Entmaa recorded a career-high 40 saves in historic fashion to help the Bulldogs stymie visiting Salve Regina, 2-0, in a non-conference battle of nationally-ranked teams on Friday evening. These same two teams will conclude their two-game weekend set at 3:05 p.m. Saturday.

THE BASICS

 Final Score: Adrian College 2, Salve Regina University 0

 Location: Arrington Ice Arena; Adrian, Mich.

 Records: Adrian Bulldogs 9-3-1 overall (5-2-1 NCHA South Division), Salve Regina Seahawks 8-2-1 overall (6-1-1 CCC)

 National Rankings: Adrian--#7 United States College Hockey Online (179 points) and #6 D3hockey.com (186) polls; Salve Regina #5 USCHO.com (202) and #4 D3hockey (229)

TOP 'DAWGS

 Senior Bryan Yim had a goal and an assist while going five-for-11 on face-offs.

 Classmate Connor Armour also scored for Adrian and was 12-for-22 on face-offs.

 Junior Dino Balsamo was dominant in the face-off dot, going 15-for-19.

THE OPPOSITION

 John McLean led SRU with a game-high nine shots, followed by Vincenzo Renda (5), Erik Udahl (4) and Brent Hill (4).

 Blake Wojtala (L, 7-2-1) stopped 24 of 26 shots he faced.

 Evan Schmidbauer (13-for-28) and Paul Boutoussov (5-for-10) led the team on face-offs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

 After the teams skated to a scoreless first period in which Adrian held a 14-12 shots on goal advantage, Yim broke through the goalie duel by giving the host Bulldogs all the offense they would need with his team-leading 11th goal 2 minutes and 45 seconds into the second. Junior Bryce Van Horn entered the offensive zone with the puck and fed a drop pass to freshman Jared Domin who skated near the left face-off circle. From there, he sent a nifty pass across the goalmouth to a streaking Yim who sent his shot into the back of the net.

 Armour added an insurance tally 11:12 later on assists from senior Trevor Boyd and Yim at 13:57.

 In the third period, Salve ratcheted the offensive pressure by outshooting the Bulldogs 17 to 5. But Entmaa stood tall and the defense helped clear pucks as he preserved his third shutout this season and the seventh of his career.

 Adrian tempered getting outshot by 14 (40-26) by controlling face-offs, winning 41 of 65 draws.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

 Entmaa's 40 saves eclipses his previous high of 39 and ties for the fourth-most in Adrian single-game history. Brad Fogal also had 40 stops at Marian University on Nov 6, 2009. The 40 saves are also the most ever by a Bulldog backstop in a shutout game.

 Yim made his 99th appearance in a Black and Gold uniform.

 Adrian avenges a 6-2 loss last season to the Seahawks at the Codfish Bowl Invitational in Boston, Mass.

 Salve Regina was the NCAA Division III national runner-up in 2017-18, losing to St. Norbert 3-2 in double overtime in the championship game at Lake Placid, N.Y.

 Entmaa surpassed Scott Shackell (53-8-7, 2011-14) for second place on the Bulldogs all-time list for goalie victories; Entmaa is 54-15-3 for his career.