Box Score Adrian, MI - The No. 11 Utica College men's ice hockey team started off the new year with a resilient win on Saturday.

In a wild contest where the Pioneers gained, and lost the lead in the final minute of regulation, then had a potential regulation game-winner waved off at the buzzer, Regen Cavanagh (Chesapeake, VA/Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)) delivered the goods anyway. His efforts sealed one of the biggest non-conference wins in school history. Cavanagh scored his fourth goal of the season from the front of the net at 1:51 of overtime to hoist the Pioneers past No. 7 Adrian by a 7-6 score at the Arrington Ice Arena in Adrian, Michigan.

The win is Utica's third straight, as the team improves to a record of 8-2-2 overall. The win is Utica's third of the season against a Top 10 team. Salve Regina and Manhattanville were both ranked in the top ten at the time of their meetings with Utica. This also marks Utica's first win over Adrian in four total tries. The teams will play their fifth all-time meeting on Sunday.

Defenseman Vaden McManus (Fayetteville, NC/Hampton Roads (USPHL)) had one of the best nights of his career with a goal and two assists for the Pioneers. McManus scored the goal that gave Utica the lead with 52 seconds to go, before Adrian's Dino Balsamo netted the 6-6 equalizer with just seven seconds left. Kasper Kjellkvist (Vaxjo, Sweden/Curry College (Commonwealth Coast Conf.)) scored twice to dig Utica out of a 4-2 hole in the third period. Brandon Osmundson (Chesapeake, VA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) tacked on a goal and two assists of his own. Cavanagh, and Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)) each had a goal and an assist. Landrigan had a multi-point night in his first game back after missing the last seven games, and Osmundson has a point in all but two games this season.

Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) returned for his first action since November 29th, and made 39 saves in goal for his third win of the season. His efforts were needed greatly on a night where Utica was outshot 45-30, including a 20-11 margin in the third period.

Dino Balsamo scored twice for Adrian.

The opening period belonged to the Bulldogs, as the hosts darted out to a 2-0 advantage. Rex Moe canned his seventh of the season for Adrian at 6:29, and Balsamo doubled the lead before the intermission with his first of the game at 16:04 on the power play. Adrian held a 15-6 edge in first period shots.

Utica would turn the game around rapidly in the second period to pull even with their Western hosts. Donovan Ott (Lebanon, PA/Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (ECAC Hockey)) scored a slick goal to get Utica on the board, as he continued to establish his reputation for tearing apart opposing defensemen in one-on-one situations. Ott waltzed his way past a defender on the right wing, then curled to the front of the net and fired the puck past Adrian netminder Cameron Gray to trim the deficit to 2-1 at 4:06 of the second period. McManus and Pietrowski had the assists. At 7:00 of the period, Landrigan made his triumphant return to the score sheet as his goal tied the game. The teams went scoreless for the rest of the period as the sides sat a 2-2 through 40 minutes.

The relative tranquility of the second period soon gave way to total mayhem in the third. A total of eight goals were scored in the final period of regulation, with each team scoring four times to get the game into overtime. Adrian returned to the drivers' seat in the opening minute of the period on a goal by Andrew Bellant to take a 3-2 lead. The lead doubled at 4:41 when Joey Colatarci lit the lamp for his third of the season for the Bulldogs.

Utica's answer to the newfound two-goal deficit came in the form of Kjellkvist. The junior offered up a quick response eleven seconds later with his fifth marker of the year to slash the deficit to 4-3. Cavanagh and Eric Holland (Whitby, ON/Brockville Braves (CCHL)) had the assists. At 8:27 of the third, Kjellkvist returned the Pioneers to level terms at a 4-4 score with another tally, assisted by Nick Yzaguirre (Chicago, IL/Charlotte Rush (USPHL-Premier)) and Cameron Bartkoski (Dallas, TX/Amarillo Bulls (NAHL)).

Osmundson hoisted the Pioneers ahead by a 5-4 score on a dazzling goal with 7:20 left. After being fed the puck along the boards by the combination of Landrigan and Tyler Dill (South Lake Tahoe, CA/Charlotte Rush (USPHL-Premier)), Osmundson came from the back of the net towards the right wing post. He then stopped and cut back behind the net, then wrapped back around the right post when the defenseman bit on the fake to score the goal.

Adrian's Zachary Heintz restored a tie game at 5-5 with a power play strike at 14:18. That led to the frantic final moments of regulation. After Utica weathered a challenging stretch of possession by Adrian,  and also had a chance to score the go-ahead on a breakaway by Buster Larsson (Bunkeflostrand, Sweden/Syracuse Stars (NCDC)), McManus fired a shot from the left wing that went off the post and in to give Utica a 6-5 advantage. Adrian countered when Balsamo scored on a scum in the front of the net with under ten seconds left to force overtime. Utica made a final bid for the win at the buzzer on a similar scrum, but the goal was waved off. 

Utica outshot Adrian 3-1 in overtime before Cavanagh sealed the deal with the overtime game-winner.

The Pioneers and Bulldogs will duel a second time on Sunday afternoon at Arrington Ice Arena. Puck drop is slated for 4:05 p.m. Eastern in Adrian, Michigan.