ADRIAN, MI - The No. 4 ranked Pioneer Men's Hockey team voyaged out to the heartland on Saturday night for a high-profile season-opening bout with the team directly ahead of them in the national polls: No. 3 ranked Adrian College. The Pioneers took last year's two-game set between the two powerhouses, playing to a draw in the first game before securing a 3-2 overtime win in the second matchup. This season, there would be no draw in the first game, as both teams combined for five goals over the final 25 minutes of play in the matchup. It was superstar Senior Shane Murphy who proved to be the difference, scoring two third period goals to complete a Pioneers' comeback and shock the Bulldogs in a thrilling 3-2 victory to open the year.
 
The Pioneers outshot the Bulldogs by a 34-23 margin, getting lots of attempts on the rush thanks to an experienced back line piloted by Captain Brian Scoville.
 
Utica's defensive unit really showed their colors during the four Adrian power plays on the night, spinning four excellent penalty kills and even notching a shorthanded score which tied the contest at two at the beginning of the third period
 
Murphy ended with two goals on two shots, having an emphatic and efficient evening as he powered the Pioneer victory.
 
Johnny Mulera had an instant impact during his first game in a Pioneer uniform, scoring the game's first goal while also contributing an assist on the deciding score as well.
 
Aydin Parekh and Matt Wood also procured assists on the night.
 
Ethan Roberts got his first win of the season in net, racking up 21 saves in the contest.
 
Game Summary:
 
The Bulldogs committed an early penalty, giving the Pioneers their first advantage of the season and a prime opportunity to send home an early score mere moments into the contest. Utica was turned away during the power play chance, launching a couple threatening slapshots, but not drawing any net during the two-minute spell.
 
Directly after the Pioneer's power play time expired, it was the visitors' time to be at a disadvantage, as they garnered a two-minute minor of their own to give Adrian a season-opening power play.
 
The Pioneers' experienced penalty kill stood strong, even threatening to find a shorthanded score as Wood broke through and rattled the crossbar with a wrister. Wood was dangerous on the penalty kill in the Pioneers' two exhibition contests, even notching a shorthanded score during their preseason action, and he looked to continue that trend into the regular season.
 
A couple saves from Roberts secured the first penalty defense of the season for Utica and kept the game knotted at zero.
 
Adrian College received another power play opportunity a few minutes later as the result of a Pioneer high-sticking call, however the Utica skaters sat firmly in all the possible Bulldog passing lanes for a relatively low-pressure penalty kill.
 
Both teams' best chance early on came on back-to-back plays with about five minutes left in the opening period. Reid Oliver laid a pass off to Wood, who was denied on the doorstep by the Bulldogs' keeper. Adrian responded immediately, rocketing a shot off of the Pioneers' goal post. After the snow settled, it remained 0-0 heading into the second period.
 
Utica made it three-for-three in the penalty kill category to start the middle third of the match, warding off the Bulldogs to run out the time on a two-minute hooking call.
 
The action on the ice was pretty even for the vast majority of the second period, as the game sped through over 35 scoreless minutes.
 
The Pioneers were sent to their second advantage of the night with about three minutes remaining in the period. This time around, Utica's power play sealed the deal, with Pioneer newcomer Mulera scoring the first goal of the season, as well as his first goal in the Orange and Blue after transferring in from Salve Regina during the summer. Mulera received a pass on the left wing from Parekh and proceeded to fake out a defender, weaving around and driving down to the boards left of the net, before firing home a shot from a ridiculous angle to get the Pioneers on the board.
 
Utica's 1-0 margin wouldn't last long, as the Bulldogs struck back within the next two minutes, leveling the game at 1 apiece heading to the decisive third period.
 
Adrian entered the final 20 minutes with the lion's share of the momentum, scoring less than one minute into the third period to take a 2-1 lead. They utilized their late energy to push for a potentially lethal goal against the visiting Pioneers, a fate that looked very real after Utica picked up a penalty following the Bulldogs' second score.
 
Despite the player disadvantage, the Pioneers' penalty kill specialist in Wood managed to get out on the break, eventually getting stuffed at the net but corralling the puck and finding a trailing Murphy in front of a suddenly empty goal. Murphy slotted the shorthanded goal to bring the game back to a tie at 2-2.
 
The late game fireworks didn't stop there though, as the Pioneers had one more trick up their sleeve.
 
Seemingly headed for overtime tied at two with 30 seconds remaining in the third period, the visitors ensured that bonus hockey wouldn't be necessary in the season-opening showdown, as Mulera split two Bulldog defenders to find Murphy on the left post, resulting in the game's deciding moment with Murphy sending in his second score of the night.
 
Murphy's pair of third period scores put the Pioneers up 3-2 with seconds remaining in the matchup, a score that would hold out until the final buzzer, sending the Pioneers to a massive comeback victory marking the beginning of a very hopeful season.
 
Utica moves to 1-0-0 on the season and will return to the Arrington Ice Arena on Sunday at 1:00 PM to finish the two-game series with Adrian College.