MD1 Captures Second National Championship with 6-1 Victory
The MD1 team took it to the road this past week to St. Louis, Missouri for the 2021 ACHA MD1 National Championship Tournament. After posting an 18-1 record through the regular season, the Dawgs entered the tournament as the #1 team in the nation.
The Dawgs first opponent was the #16 McKenfree University Bearcats in the opening round of the tournament. The Dawgs would put on a scoring clinic, winning 15-1 and setting a tournament record for goals scored in a game.
Next up in the National Quarterfinal would be #8 Iowa State. The Dawgs would best the Cyclones by a score of 10-2 to head to their third straight final four.
The Dawgs faced familiar foe #7 Indiana Tech in the semifinals, taking down the Warriors 4-1 to find themselves back in the National Championship game.
The Bulldogs would face the #6 Minot State Beavers on Tuesday night, the same team who had taken out the Dawgs in the 2019 National Tournament.
Brenden Stanko would kick things off early with a goal at the 3:12 mark of the first period. Henrik Overvall would assist. The Beavers would tie things up shortly after on the powerplay and the two teams would head into the first intermission tied at 1 a piece.
Jordan Oshowy would break the ice at the 3:28 mark of the second period, sending home his first of the weekend from the point. Oshowy’s goal would be unassisted. Connor Smith would extend the Bulldog lead to 3-1 two minutes later, tipping a shot from Dylan Kent. Kent and Matteo DiGiulio would assist. After two, the Bulldogs held a 3-1 lead and had taken control of the game, outshooting the Beavers 20-8 in the second period alone and were twenty minutes away from a national championship.
Nash Hatcher would make things 4-1 with 14:26 gone in the third period. Stanko and Kent would assist. The Beavers would pull their goalie shortly after and Stanko would add his second of the night for a 5-1 lead. Goaltender Mike Barrett would assist, picking up his second assist of the tournament. Sam Spaedt would add one more goal, this time with the goalie in net, and the Dawgs would hold a 6-1 lead as the buzzer sounded and they were once again on top of the ACHA.
Mike Barrett would pick up the win and the Tournament’s Most Valuable Player award after backstopping the Dawgs for five seasons. He finishes his career with a perfect season, going 16-0 in his final year and finishing with 91 career wins, one win shy of NCAA goaltender Brad Fogal’s record for wins by an Adrian goaltender.
Brenden Stanko would lead the tournament in points and assists with 2G-7A for 9 points. Nash Hatcher came in second in points but first in goals, scoring 5 goals and adding 3 assists for 8 points. Manny Silverio and Henrik Overvall would tie for third with Silverio grabbing 3 goals and 4 assists and Overvall tallying 2 goals and 5 assists.
This is the second National Championship title for the MD1 Dawgs and Head Coach Gary Astalos who picked up his 150th career win in only his 159th game on Friday night.
Comentarios