Clearly, the biggest series of the year for the Kent State University Golden Flashes ice hockey team begins tonight against the Adrian College Bulldogs.

     Adrian (13-1) is the reigning American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division 1 National Champion and currently ranked third in the nation.

     The Golden Flashes (14-2) skate into tonight’s opener of the two game series ranked 21st in the ACHA D-1 ranking.

     Kent State is currently in second place in the Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League with 16 points while Adrian, with two less league games played, is in third place with 12 points.

     “This game carries a lot of weight for us,” explained Kent State head coach Jim Underwood.  “It’s three points in our league standings and both teams are undefeated in the league. We are still on the outside looking in for a national tournament bid, so if you get an opportunity to play the number three team it is a statement game. This is going to give us an idea of where we stack up.”

     Adrian enters the series having scored 102 goals while allowing only 25 this season and that has certainly caught Underwood’s attention.

     “We carried two concepts into this week. Our practices have focused on a lot of high intensity, organized chaotic practices with a high level of compete and competition. We expect to play a little bit more in our defensive zone this weekend as Adrian is a very strong offensive team. We prepared to play in our zone more than we’ve been used to this year so we are able to handle the situations,” said Underwood.

     The potential post season tournament opportunities afforded in this series are something of which Underwood’s troops are aware of as the home and home series begins in Adrian this evening and returns to Kent tomorrow night.

    “Our guys are excited. The returning guys know what they are walking into. The new guys, while you can communicate to them, show them film and explain to them the type of program Adrian is; won’t really see for themselves how fast of a game it is until they step on the ice tonight. It will be baptism by fire, so-to-speak,” offered Underwood.

     Depth in scoring will be one of the challenges the Flashes have to be concerned with as the defending national champions have impressive scoring potential on every line.

     “They are more balanced this year in terms of offense. They have a couple of guys that are leading the charge,  but when you look at forwards three through nine, this is why they are as good as they are. On any given night any one of their lines is going to hurt you if you don’t play solid defense and stick to your team concepts,” Underwood stated.

     “We can’t rely on three forwards and two defensemen to get the job done. It is going to have to be done by committee here, everybody pushing the cart and nobody going along for the ride,” assessed Underwood.

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