MD1 Shuts Out PNW on 16th Anniversary of Inaugural Game
The MD1 team took on the Pride of Purdue University - Northwest for the first Thursday night hockey game of the 2023-24 season.
The Bulldogs would take on their GLCHL opponent in front of a packed crowd at Arrington Ice Arena, something that has become quite common, especially on Thursday nights, where they have not dropped a game since February of 2019.
Unbeknownst to more than likely everyone watching, this was not just any Thursday night game, but the 16th anniversary of the Inaugural MD1 Game at Arrington Ice Arena in 2007. Not only was this the first Men’s D1 game, but the first college hockey game played at Arrington Ice Arena.
Matthew Dicesare would get the crowd going with the first goal of the game coming at the 16:04 mark of the first period. Justin Jamer would assist Dicesare’s fourth goal in four games.
Captain Matteo DiGiulio would give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead only 51 seconds into the middle frame, catching an assist from Nathaniel Mott. Nash Hatcher would make it a three goal lead midway through the second with assists from freshmen line mates Blake Wideman and Jordan Comilla. Sam Spaedt would pull off a shorthanded goal with 11:25 gone in the period to make it a 4-0 game heading into the third period. Mott would assist on Spaedt’s tally as well.
Cameron Armstrong would notch his second of the season and the second shorthanded goal of the night with 8:22 elapsed in the third frame. Armstrong’s goal would close out the scoring as the Dawgs came away with their second shutout in three games with Noah Decottignies picking up the win in net for his fourteenth career shutout.
While a packed crowd like the one we saw today has become the norm for Thursday nights and seemingly any Men’s D1 game, that certainly has not always been the case for the last sixteen years. If you want a shining example of the growth of hockey on Adrian’s campus the following of the MD1 team is what you would be looking for.
The Bulldogs would drop their opening game 4-0 against Michigan back in 2007, but since then have won 460 games (222 of those being won by Coach Gary Astalos) and only dropped 125 in the sixteen years since. Those 460 wins have included 11 GLCHL Regular Season Titles, 8 GLCHL Playoff Championships and 2 National Championships.
Not only do our D1 Dawgs see full crowds and support from the student body and community but have every single home game broadcasted, social media accounts on every platform, have new jerseys nearly every other year, and have grown their supporters to the point of being able to have special teams and almost every aspect of gameday sponsored. The school writes about nearly every series now on the athletics page (which was not the case even five years ago when they won their first National Championship), they get a media day with ACTV now and have people covering their games every week.
It has not come easily or without effort, but through the work of Coach Astalos, the coaches that came before him cultivating a community around their team and a lot of others behind the scenes who have always known that, as I like to say, #ItsMoreThanJustClubHockey.
The Dawgs hit the road for the first time this year on Saturday night for game two versus the Pride before returning home next weekend for a two game series against Pitt.
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