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Adrian 4, Finlandia 0

AC0 2 2 4

FU0 0 0 0

First period - No scoring. Penalties FU, Josh Fusco, Bench Minor 4:06, FU, Bryan Solander, High Sticking, 14:41, FU, Cody Callegos, Tripping, 16:05, AC, Zach Graham, Slashing, 16:05.

Second period - 1, AC, Shawn Skelly (Eric Roman, Chris Stansik) 7:00 (SH). 2, AC, Bobby Hineman (Mike Dahlinger, Graham) 8:16. Penalties FU, Quinn McIntosh, Interference, 0:03, AC, Kyle Crawford, Cross Checking 3:21, AC, Brad Houston, Hooking, 5:45, AC, Drew Satterley, Tripping 8:20, FU, Josh Fusco, Tripping, 8:20, FU, James Neitsch, Check-from-behind/Game Misconduct, 13:57.

Third period - 3, AC, Mike Towns (Drew Satterley, Kyle Frieday) 5:56. 4, AC, Kyle Frieday (Kyle Watson, Brad Fogal) 18:52 (EN). Penalties AC, Dahlinger, Slashing, 1:36, AC, Houston, Game Misconduct, 1:36, FU, Dan Grille, Interference, 2:58, AC, Dahlinger, Tripping, 6:57, AC, Watson, Elbowing, 11:40.

Goaltender saves - AC, Brad Fogal (6-5-11 22), FU, Mike Wuthrich (9-19-14 42).

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HANCOCK - After falling 9-1 to the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association's leading team, Adrian College, Friday night, the Finlandia Lions needed a major improvement for the finale Saturday, and they got it.

Unfortunately for them, the high-flying Bulldogs offense was still too much and Brad Fogal stopped all 22 Lion shots as Adrian (16-3, 14-0 MCHA) won 4-0 to earn the series sweep.

"I thought we were sounder in our responsibilities, we picked up on some loose ends that we missed (Friday) night," Finlandia coach Chris Salani said. "We had to make sure that all of our guys were picking up loose bodies, and that was the outcome, we got in positions to combat their transitions and scoring chances."

The Lions (3-14-2, 2-10-1) kept it tight in the first period, allowing only nine Adrian shots, including killing two power-play tries by the Bulldogs.

The penalty kill was hot for Finlandia all weekend, fighting off 12 of 13 Bulldog power-play attempts, including all five Saturday.

"We really hadn't met our special teams goals up to this point, particularly on the penalty kill, but we're becoming more unified as a unit now," Salani said. "We really had our mental focus on the penalty kill, getting bodies in the right places, that was a big improvement."

Shawn Skelly finally broke the scoreless tie seven minutes into the second period as he finished a short-handed opportunity, and just more than a minute later Bobby Hineman doubled the lead.

Mike Dahlinger earned an assist on the goal, his nation-leading 30th of the season.

Adrian outshot the Lions 21-5 in the period, but in the third period, the Lions jumped back in with 11 shots, including a lot of pressure.

Unfortunately for the home squad, Mike Towns finished a chance to give Adrian a 3-0 lead, and then an empty-netter finished the scoring.

"We knew they'd come out working hard after last night," Adrian coach Ron Fogarty said, "but over our last six games we've been playing very well, putting 60 minutes together."

The Lions saw major improvement in Saturday's game, something coach Salani attributed to a greater focus.

"It's a matter of keeping our minds on what we need to do and not getting penalties," he said.

"We have to work against every opponent and we had glimpses today again, as we've had the last few games where 5-on-5 we're executing well and from that we're getting opportunities."

Mike Wuthrich stopped 42 shots for Finlandia.

Finlandia will host Marian next weekend in Hancock.

Michael H. Babcock can be reached at mbabcock@mininggazette. com.