March 15, 2008
Fort Myers, Fla. - For the second year in a row, the Davenport Men's Hockey team made its way into the ACHA Division II National Championship Game, but this time they were able to come out on top as the Panthers defeated Indiana University 5-2. The win is the first National Championship of any kind for a Davenport team after beginning the athletic program just six years ago.
After scoring 35 goals in their first four games of the tournament, the defense took over and Indiana would battle with their defense as well. Davenport got on the board first immediately following an important penalty kill. Bill McSween found the back of the net with just 5:14 remaining in the first period and Wes Baughman was credited with his first of two assists on the evening. Chris Joswiak was once again solid in the net as Davenport closed the first period with a 1-0 lead.
The offensive attack has been the biggest strength for Davenport in the tournament and with 4:33 left in the second period, the Panthers struck again off the stick of Kevin Doyle. The senior forward was able to bang home a loose puck to give DU a 2-0 lead as Baughman and Jeff Kraemer were credited with the assists. Just over a minute later, the Hoosiers got themselves back in the game off a goal by Dan Karlander after Chris Joswiak made two awesome saves from point blank range. After the goal by the Hoosiers, it looked like DU would be in for a tight game leading by just one late in the second period, but with just :5 seconds left, Chad Anguilm banged home a loose puck in front of the Indiana net to give the Panthers a 3-1 lead.
With only 20 minutes remaining for their first ever National Championship, the Panthers came out with quite a bit of intensity in the final period as the hitting really stepped up. The Panthers would score their fourth goal of the game just 5:00 into the third period to take full control of the game and Kevin Doyle would go on to add his second goal of the game immediately after Indiana had gotten to within two with only 4:43 remaining. The Panthers would pack in the defense in the closing minutes to seal the 5-2 victory.
The win is the fifth straight of the National Tournament for Davenport and extends their season winning streak to nine games dating back to a huge series clinching victory over Oakland University in the regular season finale. Davenport ends the season with an overall record of 35-10-3.
