Tournament Homepage
Day: Wednesday, March 9
Faceoff: 7:00 PM
Location: Newark, Delaware
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Live Stats: Click Here
The Opponent: #1 Lindenwood
The Series: 1-1 this season, 4-4 all-time
Scouting Report: One thing is certain, one of the two teams' consecutive national championships streak will come to an end. Lindenwood has won the past two national championships in Division 1 and Davenport has won 3 consecutive national championships in Division 2.
Lindenwood is loaded up front at forward. They are led in scoring by Corey Spradling, he has 70 points in 33 games including a team leading 33 goals. Also strong up front for the Lions are Grant Gorcyzka who leads all forwards with 38 assists in 27 games. Gorcyzka is also a beast on the face off circle as he is one of the best centers at taking the draw in the ACHA. The Lions are very big up front and crash the net very hard. They are fast and their forwards are very strong offensively and defensively.
Lindenwood is also very strong on the defensive end. They are led by their Captain Colin Long. Long scored the game winner last night on a strong move to the net and tucked it under the Delaware goaltender. Bret Morrell is leading the Lions defense in scoring with 9 goals and 40 assists, good enough for 3rd overall in team scoring. Lindenwood's defense is very similar to Davenport's as they are very good in the defensive zone but also are taught to rush the puck and join the play.
Robi Cavallari will be in net for Lindenwood tonight. He has a record of 24-3 with a 1.96 GAA. He has 3 shutouts on the season including last nights game. Cavallari has only given up 2 goals in 3 games. He has a .901 save percentage on the season. His numbers are helped out by the strong defense and offense, but Cavallari is very good.
Davenport comes into this game as one of two teams that does not fear Lindenwood, Ohio being the other. Earlier in the season, the Panthers took 3 of 4 points from Lindenwood, in St. Charles. The Lions are very strong, very good, and are the two time defending national champions.
ACHA National Tournament History for DU:
First year in ACHA Division 1 National Tournament...Appeared in ACHA Division 2 National Tournament previous seven seasons...Won D2 tournament past three seasons (2009-10, 2008-09, 2007-08)...Runner-up to Michigan State in 2006-07 season, posting 4-5 OT loss to Spartans...2007-08 National Tournament defeated Siena 8-3 in semifinal game and Indiana 5-2 for first D2 National Championship...2008-09 National Tournament defeated semifinal opponent Colorado State 6-2 and Florida Gulf Coast 5-1 for second National Championship...Last season knocked off Colorado 3-1 in the semifinals and defeated Central Connecticut State 12-4 in the National Championship...Davenport was 24-6 all-time in D2 National Tournament...
2011 Post-Season Quick Facts:
Davenport finished with an overall record of 33-10 (33-7-3) in their first season at the ACHA D1 level...DU picked up wins over Lindenwood, Ohio, Oklahoma, Adrian, Oakland that are all here at the National Tournament...Jonathon Juliano leads the team in points (75), assists (46) and goals (29)...Captain Brit Ouellette is second in all three categories with 71 points, 27 goals and 46 assists...Ouellette was named the GLCHL Regular Season MVP and was joined on the first team All-Conference by Juliano and Jeff Slusser...Phil Graveline led the Panthers with an 18-3 record in net and was named 2nd Team All-GLCHL...He was joined by Kevin Brojek and Bobby Collar...The longest winning streak for DU in 2010-11 was eight games from December 11 - January 22...Davenport finished second in the regular season standings in the GLCHL...
