March 21, 2009

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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Davenport University defeated Florida Gulf Coast today 5-1 to claim their second straight ACHA D-II National Championship. The title ends the 2008-2009 season for DU with an overall record of 44-4 as Chris Joswiak was named the Tournament MVP.

Playing in their third straight National Championship Game, the Panthers came out of the gates slowly but controlled the pace of play for most of the first period. After some good chances from each team, DU got on the board first when Kevin Doyle pounded home a rebound off of a shot from Adam Thomas with only 4:07 remaining in the first. That would be the lone goal of the opening twenty minutes as DU outshot the Eagles 11-8.

The second period is where the Panthers have shined this entire tournament and that trend continued today as Davenport pushed their lead to 3-0 with two goals scored by Adam Thomas and Bill McSween. The goals came just 1:52 apart and DU went into the final period leading 3-0.

With only twenty minutes remaining from their second consecutive national title, the Panthers got a quick goal from Kevin Doyle. The next 15 minutes saw DU become very sluggish and very undisciplined as they allowed FGC to post their long goal of the game at the 9:44 mark. Fortunately the time ran out on any miraculous comeback for the Eagles and DU added a late goal from Ben Dykstra for the final outcome of 5-1.

For the five games in the tournament, DU outscored their opponents 28-6 as they allowed more than one goal only once. For their efforts throughout pool play, semifinals and championship games, Brit Ouellette, Chris Joswiak and Jeremy Barber were named to the All-Tournament 1st Team while Bobby Collar earned second team honors.

Davenport ends their season with a school and ACHA record 44 wins compared to only four losses. They also end the season with a winning streak of 13 games while losing only three games all season to D-II teams.