South Maine News

Alessio Luciani scored on the power play 6:34 into overtime as Adrian College outlasted the University of New England, 8-7, in a wild semifinal of the 2023 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship on Friday at Raymond J. Bourque Arena on the campus of Endicott College.
 
The defending national champion Bulldogs (25-4-2) advance back to the title game and will play Hobart College, which overcame a one-goal deficit to top the host Gulls, 3-1, in the second semifinal.
 
The Nor'easters (21-7-2) come up just short in the semifinal round for the second straight year and finish with 20-plus wins for the fourth time in the last five full seasons.

The game tied for the second-highest combined score for a semifinal in Division III history, following only a 19-goal (12-7) contest between the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Salem State College back in 1992. In 1985, 2016, and now 2023, a semifinal produced an 8-7 result -- each time needing overtime.

The Nor'easters received their scores from seven different players. UNE also held the nation's leader in goals and American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) National Player of the Year, Matus Spodniak, to just one assist. He had been averaging nearly one goal per outing.

But in the end, Adrian's top power play in the country -- operating at 43 percent -- cashed in for the deciding marker. The Nor'easters were hit with a penalty, following video review, and Luciani soon stuffed in the puck from close range to send the Bulldogs back to the title game.

Leads were hard for both squads to hold, as the matchup between the first- and fifth-ranked scoring offenses created four changes along the way. The largest occurred midway through the second period, with UNE up 5-2.

The Nor'easters trailed 2-0 through 14 minutes but got a power play tally from Garrett Devine to get on the scoreboard prior to the end of the first period. Devine redirected a shot by Collin Heinold.

UNE then struck four times during the initial 10:26 of the second to surge in front. Starting the frame on the man-advantage, Alex Sheehy scored from the blue line to level things up at 2-2. Dawson Ellis found the back of the net just over one minute later with the first of three assists from Jake Fuss, who batted a deflected cross down for Ellis to move in front. Chad Merrell, on a tic-tac-toe passing play with Devine and Ryan Kuzmich in transition padded the margin, and a wrister by Heinold from a faceoff win extended the cushion to three. The fifth goal forced a goaltender change by Adrian, as Dershahn Stewart came in to relieve starter Nic Tallarico.

The Bulldogs did get one back to slow the UNE momentum heading into the final 20 minutes of the play, and then carried a power play into the third period. Ty Enns scored in the opening minute with that advantage to inch Adrian closer, slapping in a rebound off a shot by Spodniak. Ryan Pitoscia tied it up with a short-handed goal 7:52 into the third, before Enns pocketed his second to put Adrian back in front at 6-5 with 9:54 to play.
 
The Nor'easters fought right back, though, and Daniel Winslow buried the equalizer with five minutes left. Just 51 seconds later, Fuss kicked it out of the corner to a streaking Jared Christy for a snipe over the shoulder to regain the lead for UNE, 7-6.
 
However, Adrian pulled its goaltender with just under two minutes to play, and just like its power play, the extra skater made the difference. Nor'easter netminder Billy Girard IV made the initial save on a shot, but Pitoscia was there to put home the rebound for his second tally and tie the game 7-7 with 1:09 left in regulation.
 
Girard wound up with 36 stops for UNE. Stewart picked up the victory in goal for the Bulldogs with 13 saves, after Tallarico made 15 saves during his time in net.

Enns led all players with four points and Jaden Shields supported with three assists for Adrian, which held a 44-35 advantage in shots on goal.

After Fuss' team-high three points, Shea Courtmanche had a pair of assists to join Devine, Merrell, Heinold, and Christy with two points. Defensively, the Nor'easters also did a lot to help out Girard, blocking 22 shots from reaching the target -- Heinold, Fuss, and Will Spitzer each put their bodies in between four attempts. 

Original source can be found here