Men's Varsity Secures Home Ice in First Two Rounds of Harris Cup Playoffs

It was a battle for the lead in the NCHA South division to kick off the weekend of games this Friday and Saturday at Arrington Ice Arena.

The Bulldogs battled the Lake Forest College Foresters on Friday night for the advantage of home ice in the Harris Cup quarter and semi-final games. The Bulldogs looked to gain a split out of the Foresters after being defeated by the visiting team 6-0 a few weeks prior on the road.

The Foresters gained an early lead, scoring the first goal of the game ten seconds into the game. Matt Eller's first career goal would tie things up for the Bulldogs at the 3:37 mark of the first period. Eller's goal would be assisted by Vincent Paquette. The Foresters would regain the one goal lead at the 7:08 mark and would hold the lead for the next eight minutes of play. Trevor Boyd would knot things up at 2-2 with assists from Cory Dunn and Connor Armour. The Foresters would snag a powerplay goal before the end of the first period and the Bulldogs would head into the intermission down by a goal.

Joey Colatarci would score the equalizer at the 2:52 mark of the second period with assists from Rex Moe and Eller. Braden Hellsmw would net a powerplay goal with 18 seconds left in the second period and the Bulldogs would hold a 4-3 lead over the Foresters. Hellems' goal would be assisted by Dunn and Bryan Yim.

Brandon Marinelli would net his first as a Bulldog on the powerplay at the 8:19 mark of the third frame. Colatarci and Austin Bottrell. Hellems would net his second of the night on the powerplay at the 13:15 mark of the third off of assists from Dunn and Armour.

Final score Friday night at Arrington Ice Arena would be 6-3 in favor of the Bulldogs with Kevin Entmaa picking up a win in his first start since December 30th.

The Spartans of Aurora University came to town on Saturday afternoon, squaring off against the Bulldogs.

Brandon Marinelli would score on an unassisted effort at the 2:23 mark of the first period. Marinelli's second of the weekend would be the lone goal of the first period. The Spartans would tally the only goal of the second period at the 13:59 mark on the powerplay to knot things up at 1 a piece.

Dino Balsamo would be the hero, scoring the eventual game winner at 2:44 of the third period. Braden Hellems would tally the lone assist. Hellems would grab his third in two games at the 17:58 mark of the third to secure the victory for the Bulldogs on senior day. Nick Erb would grab the lone assist.

Final score Saturday afternoon would be 3-1 in favor of the Bulldogs with Keven Entmaa picking up the win in net in his final regular season home game. With the weekend sweep, the Bulldogs secured home ice through the NCHA Harris Cup Quarterfinals and Semifinals, beginning February 15th.