STRONGSVILLE, Ohio - The 14th-seeded Davenport D1 Hockey team began the National Tournament with a 4-1 win over Drexel and will now face third-seed Delaware in the second round. The puck will drop at 2:00 PM. Check out the preview for the game including links to live stats and live webcast.

Tournament Homepage: CLICK HERE
 
Faceoff: Saturday, March. 3^rd, 2:00 PM EST
Location: Strongsville, Ohio
DU Hockey Champs Video: CLICK HERE
 
Live Webcast: FASTHockey - CLICK HERE (FREE - MUST CREATE ACCOUNT)
Live Stats: CLICK HERE

First Round Opponent: #3 Delaware Blue Hens
 
The Series: First meeting between two schools
 
DelawareScouting Report
 
Davenport's second opponent at the National Championships will be the Delaware Blue Hens. Delaware received an automatic bid to the national tournament by winning the Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (ESCHL) regular season, they then went on to win the conference tournament.
 
Offensively, Delaware is led by Ryan McDonald. McDonald leads the team with 42 points. His 19 goals, six of which came on the power play, is tied for a team high while he has also accumulated 23 assists. Christian Tasker, who leads the team with 26 assists, is second on the team with 39 points. The Blue Hens are similar to Davenport in the fact that both teams have a balanced offense with several guys having 30+ points and several players with double-digit goals scored.
 
SJ Broadt started 28 games for Delaware accumulating a 25-2-1 record. Broadt comes in with a solid .926 save percentage with a low 2.07 goal against average. Over the last four games, Nick Casella has also seen playing time in net starting two of the four games. Casella gave up three goals in a win against West Chester University and then seven goals in a loss to Rhode Island.
 
Coaching Scouting Report - Head Coach Phil Sweeney

"Delaware has four solid lines and a good defensive core. We will have to be very responsible with the puck, with our changes and defensively to win this game."

"I like how we match up against Delaware. There are a few things that we have been working on for this game and hopefully it will pay off."

"To win a national champoinship you have to beat good teams. Delaware is good, hopefully getting our jitters out of the way against Drexel will help us against Delaware. It's going to be a great game!"

ACHA National Tournament History for DU – Second year in ACHA Division 1 National Tournament…Won their first ever ACHA D1 tourney in 2010-11 while defeating Rutgers (12-1), Rhode Island (9-1), Ohio (4-2) and #1 seed Lindenwood (3-2 - OT)…Appeared in ACHA Division 2 National Tournament previous seven seasons…Won D2 tournament three consecutive 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…In 2009-10 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…Davenport defeated Drexel 4-1 in the opening round.
 
2012 Post-Season Quick Facts – Davenport finished with an overall record of 20-20 in their second season at the ACHA D1 level…DU picked up wins over Liberty,  Adrian, Oakland that are all here at the National Tournament…Davenport has faced nine of the 19 teams in the National Tournament field, going 7-16 against them…Captain Ben Dykstra leads the team in points (39) and assists (25) while also tallying 14 goals…Phil Wendecker is second on the team in points with 38 and leads the team in goals with 20…Davenport has four players who have tallied 30 or more points this season and six different players who have scored double digit goals…Phil Graveline recorded a 17-15 record in net with a 3.36 goal against average… The longest winning streak for DU in 2011-12 was six games from December 3-17…Davenport finished second in the regular season standings in the GLCHL.