Davenport Athletic Network

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – After thrilling victory over crosstown rival Grand Valley State to close out the first semester head coach Phil Sweeney and the D1 Hockey team will look to use the rest from the break to start the second semester off strong against GLCHL opponent Kent State. The Panthers will return captain Phil Wendecker, who missed the last four games of the fall semester after playing for team USA in the World University Games in Italy. The puck drop for game one of the series is scheduled at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday followed with a game two start at 5:30 p.m. The game can be seen live on the DAN.    
 
Date:  January 3-4, 2014  
Location: Patterson Ice Center  
Broadcast Coverage: Davenport Athletic Network
Broadcast Talent: Thomas Biondo
Twitter: @DU_D1Hockey | @DUAthletics
 
SCOUTING KENT STATE:
 
Kent State is currently 6-14-0-0 on the season and is in seventh place in the GLCHL, leading the way for the Golden Flashes is TJ West who is leading the team with 13 goals and 19 points. Trevor Handlovitch is the only player to have double digit assists with 10 and he also has 15 points on the season for Kent State. Head coach Jim Underwood looks to get more offense from his team in the second semester.
 
In net, Underwood has split time between three goaltenders in Zachary Nowak, Cesare Dall'Ara and Phil Haywood. Nowak has appeared in the most games, 10, to post a 2-8 record, while Dall'Are and Haywood have both played in six. Dall'Ara leads the team in goals against average and save percentage with 3.25 and .90, respectively.
 
 
LAST MEETING:
 
The last time the Golden Flashes and Panthers met was November 9, when the Panthers rebounded from a loss to Kent State the night before. Davenport dominated the game from start to finish winning the game 8-0. Matt Kaludis picked up the 19 save shutout for his first on the season. Phil Haywood started the game in net for Kent State, but the Panthers four goals in the first 17:14 of the game to chase him from the net where Cesare Dall'Ara finished the game for the Flashes.
 
Davenport had six different goal scorers in the game, while Mason Bohlinger tallied his first hat-trick of the season. Luke McCarthy, Tyler Layle, Travis White, John Brooks and Phil Wendecker were the other goal scorers for the Panthers. Robert Kleiman had four assists in the game and Wendecker added three assists to his one goal.
 
WEEKEND RECAP:
 
The Panthers have had the last couple weeks off for the semester break, but the Panthers last weekend series was on December 13 and 14 when they played a home and home series with crosstown rival Grand Valley State. The weekend series with the Lakers was a repeat of last seasons between the two.
 
Davenport got off to a slow start in game one losing the first game 4-2, while game two was a thrilling back and forth battle that went into overtime. Grand Valley opened the scoring with a power play goal but Stephen Flood came back to tie the game up early in the second period. The Lakers had a two goal lead with 6:20 left and Mason Bohlinger scored a goal to bring the game within one. Andrew Frank scored with 4:03 left in the third to tie the game. However, the Lakers came back to score with 1:39 left to retake the lead. Frank tied the game once again with 42 seconds left in regulation push the game to overtime, where Winston Hofer scored the game winner 1:04 into the period.
 
THE PANTHERS:
 
Davenport finished the fall semester on a high note with the big win over rival Grand Valley to propel them into the break. Robert Kleiman is leading the team in point with 28 and assists with 21. Mason Bohlinger and Phil Wendecker are leading the team in goals will 11 apiece. Andrew Frank and Wendecker are tied for second on the team in points with 22, and Mason Bohlinger is the fourth Panther with at least 20 points in the first half of the season.
 
In net, head coach Phil Sweeney has had two consistent stalwarts with Phil Graveline and Matt Kaludis. Graveline has an 8-7 record with a .909 save percentage and 2.93 goals against average; Kaludis is 5-2 on the year with a 1.73 goals against average and .933 save percentage.
 
GLCHL OUTLOOK:
 
Adrian is still atop the conference with a 14-2-0-0 record for a total of 42 points. Oakland is in second place with 33 points and the Panthers are in third place just six points behind the Grizzlies with 27 points. Eastern Michigan is in fourth place 17 points, Western Michigan is in fifth place with 13 points, and Michigan-Dearborn comes in at sixth place with 12 points. Davenport's next opponent, Kent State, is in seventh place with six points in conference play.
 
ACHA RANKINGS:
Preseason Ranking (9/20)                 10th
Week 1 (9/27)                                       11th
Week 2 (10/4)                                       12th
Week 3 (10/11)                                    12th
Week 4 (10/18)                                    12th
Week 5 (10/24)                                    14th
Week 6 (10/29)                                    14th
Week 7 (11/5)                                       15th
Week 8 (11/13)                                    15th
Week 9 (11/20)                                    18th
Week 10 (11/27)                                  16th
Week 11 (12/5)                                    12th
Week 12 (12/11)                                  13th
Week 13 (12/17)                                  13th
               
 
DI Ice Hockey Contact: David Gerhart | 616-554-5045 | dgerhart@davenport.edu
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