Tom Seravalli gave Nazareth the early lead with his goal in the first period

Men's Ice Hockey

Nazareth Edged By #5 Adrian, 2-1, in Overtime

Bulldogs score in the closing minutes of regulation and opening minutes of overtime

Box Score Box l Updated stats
ADRIAN, MI -- Visiting Nazareth led fifth-ranked Adrian for a span of 44:42 before finally succumbing to the Bulldogs' offensive pressure in the closing minutes of the third period to send the contest into overtime. Adrian scored 1:05 into the extra session to edge the Golden Flyers 2-1 in a non-conference men's hockey game on Sunday afternoon. Junior Tom Seravalli scored Nazareth's goal, and sophomore Ed Zdolshek amassed a game-high 37 saves to stymie the Bulldogs for the majority of the game.

With the hard-fought loss, the Golden Flyers fall to 1-7-1 overall. With the victory, Adrian remains undefeated and improves to 9-0-0 overall. Sunday's game is the only game the Bulldogs have not won by multiple goals during their first nine games, and it is the fewest goals they have scored in any of their contests this season.

Dustin Hebebrand was credited with the game-winning goal 1:05 into overtime to thwart Nazareth's upset bid. With the faceoff in Nazareth's defensive zone, Adrian's Kevin Balas won the draw, which he pulled back to the right point. Adam Davies sent a long slapshot toward the Golden Flyers' goal. Hebebrand was in position to deflect the puck past a screened Zdolshek for the game-winning goal. Balas and Davies had the assists on the goal.

Seravalli had provided the Golden Flyers with the initial lead, 12:38 into the first period, with his fourth goal of the season. Seravalli is tied with freshman Chris Murray as Nazareth's leading goal scorers. Senior Mark Zavorin was credited with the assist.

Zdolshek made 35 consecutive saves to hold the Bulldogs off the scoreboard for the opening 57:20. Following coincidental minors called with 4:34 to play in regulation, the Golden Flyers' freshman defender Travis Hill was whistled for a five-minute facemask major 34 seconds after the coincidental minors were called. As a result of the penalty, the Bulldogs took a four-on-three powerplay. Nazareth's penalty kill weathered Adrian's man-up attack for 1:20 before Michael Hoy scored the game-tying goal. Davies also had the assist on Hoy's goal.

Six seconds after Hoy's goal, the coincidental minors ended. The Golden Flyers' penalty kill units continued to hold off Adrian's five-on-four advantage for the remainder of regulation and opening minute of overtime. Until the game-tying goal, Nazareth's man-down units held the Bulldogs to 0-7 on the powerplay. For the game, the Golden Flyers' man-down units held Adrian to 1-8 (12.5 percent) on the powerplay. Entering the game, the Bulldogs were tied for second in Division III in powerplay scoring percentage with the man-advantage as they had connected on 15-45 (33.3 percent) of their man-up opportunities. Similar to the Bulldogs, the Golden Flyers' powerplay also struggled to find its rhythm, finishing 0-6 with the man-advantage.

In the second period, sophomore Packy Jones almost added to Nazareth's lead. After his penalty was released, Jones took control of the puck by the Bulldogs' blue line near the benches. Jones raced in on goal but his attempt was saved. The Golden Flyers had another excellent scoring opportunity in the third period. With roughly five minutes to play in regulation, Murray and classmate Ben Blasko each had a shot on goal. Both shots were saved by Scott Shackell. Shackell tallied 19 saves for the victory.

A couple of minutes prior to the Golden Flyers' third period chances, the Bulldogs thought they had tied the game on a scramble in front of the Nazareth goal. Zdolshek ended up lunging to his right, which forced Adrian's shot to go wide of the net. Zdolshek's 37 saves included point-blank attempts by the Bulldogs. Josh Cousineau and Zach Wilson each had open shots in front of the Golden Flyers' goalie.

Nazareth's defense held Adrian's Josh Ranalli to four shots. Ranalli entered the game ranked first in Division III with 11 goals on the season, six of which had come on the powerplay. Ranalli began the game tied for third in the nation in total points with 16.

As a team, the Bulldogs are toward the top of the national ranks in several categories. Adrian started the day ranked second in the country in goals scored per game with 5.38 per contest. Wisconsin-Stevens Point leads the nation with 6.25 goals per game. The Bulldogs were ranked first in goals allowed with an average of only 1.00 goals allowed. Plattsburgh's 1.11 goals allowed ranks second.

Nazareth travels to Cortland for a non-conference game on December 10th before hosting Geneseo on December 15th in a non-conference contest at Frontier Field as part of the Frozen Frontier event. The Golden Flyer return to action at the Bill Gray's Iceplex on January 10th when Nazareth hosts nationally ranked Oswego.
Print Friendly Version