ADRIAN — We are in a golden era for Adrian College men's hockey.
The Bulldogs have appeared in the NCAA Division III Frozen Fours three times, winning in 2022 and reaching the finals in 2023, losing 3-2 to Hobart in overtime in a thriller.
“Isn't it cool,” coach Adam Klug said. “It never gets old. It's been a great three years. I'm so grateful that this group has a chance to make up for last year's loss in the finals. I can't take this opportunity for granted. We have four teams.’ We have to be sharp this week.
“It means a lot. We're playing for a national championship with this program.”
Adrian will only qualify for the title game for the third consecutive season if they can get past Trinity in the game, which will be played at the Keppel Community Sports Center in Trinity on Thursday at 7 p.m.
“It's going to be the environment,” Krug said. “Anytime they host Frozen 4 on campus and the home team participates, it's different than usual. Our crowd was great (Saturday) and we can travel well. I'm sure, but we must be prepared to brave the inclement weather in Trinity.”
The Bulldogs and Bantams have met four times in the past, splitting those four meetings. Adrian has won the last two meetings in Hartford, Conn., 1-0 in 2021-22 and 4-1 in 2017-18. The two first met in 2015's Frozen 4.
“We have some familiarity,” Klug said. “It's always been a stingy team. They don't allow a lot of goals. Their goalie (Devon Bobak) was the conference player of the year and was a local kid from Toledo. I'm definitely aware of that. They don't do that.'' They scored a lot of goals, but they conceded everything. ”
The Bulldogs have a very good goaltender in Darshaan Stewart. Stewart had a save percentage of .935 with 678 saves on the season. Last season, Nick Talarico had a .905 save percentage with 458 saves for most of the season, and Cameron Gray had a .913 save percentage with 535 saves in the championship season.
“It felt good,” Stewart said of the shot hitting the net. “Obviously, I haven't played much the last few years. I just wanted to show that I could play and once I got the chance I grabbed it and didn't want to let it go.”
Stewart had a chance last season, but was sidelined due to injury and Talarico took over and continued playing.
In the semifinals a season ago, Talarico gave up five runs in the first two periods and the Bulldogs defeated New England 5-2. Stewart found the back of the net and Adrian responded for a thrilling 8-7 victory.
“I'm so proud of him,” Krug said. “He kind of won the job at the beginning of the season. He came here and was behind Cam Gray, and Nick Talarico was a sophomore, so he could have looked and said, , Wow, there are some good guys here, I might look elsewhere.”
Trinity entered Frozen 4 in 2nd place in pairs and 3rd in the USCHO rankings, while Adrian placed 3rd in pairs and 4th in USCHO.
At the other end of the bracket are defending champion Hobart, which is No. 1 in both polls, and Utica, which is ranked No. 2 by USCHO and No. 4 in the pair.
This article originally appeared on the Daily Telegram: Adrian ready for third consecutive NCAA Division III men's hockey semifinal victory
