ADRIAN, Mich. — Adrian College built an early lead and went on to a 9-2 victory over Lawrence University on Saturday in the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association’s Harris Cup semifinals at Arrington Ice Arena.
Fifth-ranked Adrian (22-3-1) scored three times in the first 4:33 and then sealed the win by scoring the game’s final five goals. Adrian plays Marian University, which defeated No. 9 MSOE 9-2 on Saturday, for the Harris Cup championship on Sunday.
Lawrence (14-13-1) saw its season end in the Harris Cup semifinals for the third consecutive season. The Vikings posted only the fourth winning season in school history and the second under head coach Mike Szkodzinski.
Eric Miller scored the first of his three goals for the Bulldogs just 22 seconds into the game. Miller added another goal at the 3:02 mark, and Eric Roman scored at 4:33 to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead.
Adrian made it 4-0 on Jordan Watts’ goal just 1:36 into the second period before the Vikings sliced into the lead.
Sam Johnson scored on the power play for the Vikings at the 8:38 mark of the second, and Huck Saunders scored just 14 seconds later, and the Vikings had cut the lead in half at 4-2.
Miller doused Lawrence’s hopes of a comeback as he completed his hat trick with a goal at the 10:12 mark of the second. Jeremy Klaver then made it 6-2 with a power play goal at 11:40 of the second.
The Bulldogs then added three goals in the final period.
Evan Johnson made 29 saves and took the loss for Lawrence, which enjoyed a 40-38 edge in shots. Brad Fogal made 38 saves to get the win.