APPLETON, Wis. -- The Lawrence University men's hockey team stuck with defending national champion Adrian College for nearly two periods Friday before the third-ranked Bulldogs pulled away for a 7-2 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association victory at the Appleton Ice Center.
    Lawrence scored a pair of second-period goals and trailed 3-2 before the Bulldogs scored two goals in the final 2:28 of the period. Adrian led 5-2 after two periods and added two more goals in the third to seal the victory.
    Adrian built a 2-0 lead after the opening period, but Lawrence (2-11-1, 1-7-0 NCHA) cut that lead in half early in the second period. Lawrence's Tyler Jensen won a faceoff in the Adrian zone with the puck coming right to Oliver DeCroock. DeCroock's wrist shot from the between the circles went over the shoulder of Adrian goaltender Nic Tallarico at the 1:38 mark to slice the lead to 2-1.
    After an Adrian goal, Lawrence trimmed the lead back to 3-2. Zach Lodes scored his ninth goal of the season off passes from Kyle Gierman and Hugh Anderson at the 10:54 mark to pull the Vikings closer.
    Lawrence then got a power-play opportunity at the 14:17 mark, but Adrian turned the Vikings away. Adrian then scored at 17:32 and again at 19:05 to pull out to the 5-2 advantage.
    The Bulldogs then scored midway through the third period and added another goal with 12 seconds left for the final margin.
    Matus Spodniak and Riley Murphy both had a hat trick for Adrian (11-2-1, 5-2-0). 
    Owen Carlson made the start in goal for Lawrence and played the opening two periods while making 17 saves. Brian Tallieu played the final period and made eight saves for the Vikings. Tallarico finished with 16 saves for the Bulldogs.
    The teams wrap up the series on Saturday afternoon.