Enns part of historic season at Adrian College

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This article was published 09/04/2022 (1316 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It didn’t take long for Cartwright’s Ty Enns to realize that he made the right decision in transferring from the Marian University Sabres to the Adrian College Bulldogs.

“When I got there and I heard all the guys chatting with another, everything was about hockey,” Enns said.

“For them, their entire world was all focussed on trying to win a national title, and that was something I wanted to be a part of.”

After spending his first two years in Fond du Lac, Wis. — where he had 47 points in 45 games in a Sabres uniform — the 22-year-old forward elected to head down to Adrian, Mich. prior to this season to join a program that has historically been one of the top sides in the NCAA Division III ranks.

“Even though they hadn’t won, their records every year showed that it was just a matter of time before they got one,” Enns said.

“I did my research as to where I wanted to go as I wanted to have a shot at a national title, and Adrian was the right fit. It wasn’t that hard of a process either as I had kept my grades in good standing at Marian and I had already established myself as a player in college.”

While the goal was to win a championship, Enns and his teammates couldn’t have fathomed how amazing their 2021-22 campaign would be.

After losing their opening game of the season to the Utica Pioneers on Oct. 30, the Bulldogs rattled off 31 wins in a row and captured the national title in Lake Placid, N.Y. on March 26 with a 5-2 triumph over the SUNY Geneseo Knights.

“We realized at the start of the year that we would have a pretty good team, especially with the work ethic we all had, but we didn’t even dream about going on a run like we did,” Enns said.

“To win as many games as we did and to bring home the program’s first national title … I don’t think it even felt real for us until four or five days after the final. This is a pretty big deal for a small school like this and there are still people on campus wearing Bulldogs jerseys and people coming up to congratulate us.”

When asked if there was a moment in the season where the Bulldogs knew that they were legit national championship contenders, Enns immediately pointed to a 3-2 overtime win over the Wilkes University Colonels on Dec. 11 in Pittsburgh.

“There were a few games during the season where we would be down a couple of goals and just dominate the rest of the night, but that game was one where it really could have gone either way,” Enns said.

“When one of our seniors (Zach Goberis) got the winner in overtime, our confidence level really started to increase as we headed into the Christmas break with a big win. Not only did we beat a top 10 team in the country, but it was a game where everybody chipped in. I think we realized at that point that we could do something special.”

One of the key factors in the Bulldogs’ success is the influence of head coach Adam Krug, who is in his eighth season behind the bench and is a former player for the program.

According to Enns, Krug’s approach is pretty similar to one of his old coaches in Clayton Jardine, who he played under during the 2018-19 season as a member of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Kindersley Klippers.

“Coach Krug is a calm, cool and collected guy but he brings a pretty youthful vibe to the team,” Enns said.

“He’ll definitely get on you if you aren’t doing things right in practice, but he likes to crack jokes and keeps everybody involved around the rink. He really likes to keep the guys happy.”

Enns was a key contributor to the Bulldogs’ success as his 45 points — 20 goals and 25 assists — in 31 games put him third in team scoring.

He attributed much of his success to his linemates, as he spent nearly the entire season playing alongside former Alaska-Fairbanks Seawolves forward Samuel Ruffin and one-time Ferris State Bulldog Hunter Wendt.

“I think all three of us realized right away that none of us are superheroes and we couldn’t do things on our own out there,” Enns said. “We all knew that we had to support each other and move the puck around, otherwise we weren’t going to be able to do the things we needed to do to generate chances offensively.

“Individually, I felt like I was a lot more physical than I had been in the past. By using my body more and making hits, I was able to create a ton of space out there and was able to make more passes and help create two-on-one chances for my teammates.”

After dominating the St. Norbert Green Knights by a score of 12-3 in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association title game, the Bulldogs earned a bye into the quarterfinal round of the Division III national championship.

They cruised to a 7-2 win at home over the Hobart Statesmen and picked up a 5-1 victory in Lake Placid over the Augsburg Aggies to earn a date with SUNY Geneseo for the national title.

Enns said that after playing to their identity in the first two games of the tournament — which involved using a heavy forecheck and not giving their opponents room to breathe — the Bulldogs got away from that early on in the final.

“We were kind of nervous and it felt like we were playing not to lose instead of trying to win,” Enns said. “We sat back on our heels and I think it showed at the start.

“As the game went on though and we got a 2-1 lead on the power play, we all started to realize that we were as good as anyone in the country and we needed to show that. It was more of gritty effort than some of our games had been … but we found a way to get things down.”

This year’s Bulldogs team marks the third title-winning roster that Enns has been on in the last eight seasons.

He was a member of the Pembina Valley Hawks provincial U18 AAA championship side in 2015 and he hoisted the Turnbull Cup in 2017 with the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Portage Terriers.

“All of those teams are special, but this is probably the most resilient group that I have ever been around,” Enns said.

“It also means a lot to be a part of the first Bulldogs hockey team to win a national title. There isn’t really a lot of major sports around Adrian unless you go to Detroit (which is an 80-minute drive northeast of the city), so our program is the talk around town.”

A business finance student, Enns will be busy during the summer in an internship at Westoba Credit Union.

Once that’s complete, he’ll return to Adrian for his senior season as he and the Bulldogs look to become the first team to repeat as Division III national champions since St. Norbert in 2011 and 2012.

“We have a lot of guys that are going to be coming back and I think we’re all looking forward to being the big dogs that everyone is gunning after,” Enns said.

“Even though we had a great record and we’re playing well all season, I’m not sure many people thought we would pull it off. Now that we’ve shown what we can do, I think we’re all ready to do it again.”

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