Adrian vs. St. Norbert.
It’s a great matchup on paper. The kind you want to see in an NCAA hockey tournament.
It just shouldn’t be a quarterfinal game, which it happens to be as the two teams face off tonight at Adrian’s Arrington Ice Arena.
We’re talking about two of the top five teams in the nation here.
Adrian is ranked fourth. The Green Knights are fifth. It should have, at the very least, national semifinal written all over it.
What makes the fact that these two teams are playing tonight is both are from the same region. Playing now means the west region is denied a chance to have two teams in the national semifinals next week.
These two teams have played three times already this season, including for the NCHA title a couple of weeks ago. No other team left in the tourney field has done that.
But the NCAA has to consider distance when setting up brackets, basically to save money, and so the Bulldogs and Green Knights are here against each other after beating teams from their respective region in the opening round. Adrian topped UW-Stevens Point 4-0 and St. Norbert knocked off St. Olaf 5-2.
After Saturday night, only one team will still be standing. And really, this is a game that could truly go either way.
St. Norbert leads the season series two games to one. The Green Knights won the conference championship game at Adrian by a 3-1 score and also picked up a 6-2 win at home in the regular season. Feb. 3. The Bulldogs won the regular-season series opener 4-1 one night earlier.
Both teams are top 10 nationally in several statistical categories, including goals per game where Adrian ranks fourth (4.6) and St. Norbert ranks eighth (3.9).
The Bulldogs allow 1.8 goals per game while the Green Knights are giving up 2.2 goals per outing.
There will be talent all over the ice in this game. Adrian has great players like Jaden Shields, who has tallied a goal in four of the last five games and has 11 goals in all this season to go along with 27 assists.
There is Mathew Rehding, who has recorded a point in seven consecutive games, racking up 16 goals and 30 assists in all this season, and Zachary Heintz, who has come through with a point in eight straight outings. He has 17 goals and 21 assists.
And don’t forget about Dershahn Stewart, who has won 19 games, six by shutout, and boasts a 1.73 goals against average.
With St. Norbert, you have one of the best one-two punches in the game in Adam Stacho and Liam Fraser. Stacho has scored 19 goals and dished out 24 assists. Fraser has come through with 17 goals and 26 assists.
And let’s not forget about league newcomer of the year Logan Dombrowsky, who has racked up 14 goals and 23 assists.
Hunter Garvey has led the way in goal, playing in 22 games and owns a 1.81 GAA.
You also have two great coaches in Adam Krug at Adrian and the long-time veteran Tim Coghlin at St. Norbert.
Coghlin is one of the best to ever, winning more than 600 games in his career. He’s taken the program to the Frozen Four a dozen times already in his career. He has a chance to make it lucky No. 13 this year.
Look, at the end of the season, only one team is wearing a collective smile. Only one team is holding up a national championship trophy.
But Adrian and St. Norbert shouldn’t be forced to see that dream stay alive or end in the quarterfinal round. That’s something that should be decided on the final weekend of the season.
In this instance, it won’t be. And that’s unfortunate for Adrian and St. Norbert, who both deserve better.
