Davenport Athletic Network

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – After a split with No. 7 Adrian this past week the No. 12 D1 hockey team will look to end their season on a high note as No. 2 Robert Morris (Ill.) comes into Patterson Ice Center to close out the regular season. The Panthers jumped up to 12th in the most recent national rankings after the split with the Bulldogs. Robert Morris just locked up their conference title and an automatic bid to the national tournament. The final weekend series for starts on Friday at 8:30 p.m. and concludes on Saturday at 5:30 p.m., with both games at Patterson Ice Center and live on the Davenport Athletic Network.
 
Date:  February 14-15, 2014  
Location: Patterson Ice Center
Broadcast Coverage: Davenport Athletic Network
Broadcast Talent: Thomas Biondo
Twitter: @DU_D1Hockey | @DUAthletics
 
SCOUTING ROBERT MORRIS:
 
The Eagles sit at No. 2 in the country and clinched the Central States Collegiate Hockey League title with a sweep of Lindenwood last weekend. Robert Morris is 28-4-0-2 on the season and leading the way for the team is Chris Cimoch with 52 points on the season and leads the team in goals with 28. Derek Winkler leads the team in assists 27 assists on the season and has 42 points on the season.
 
In net head coach Tom Adrahtas has split time between two net minders in Anthony Petrak and Andy DiCristofaro. Petrak has a 15-3-1 record with 2.07 goals against average and a .91 save percentage. DiCristofaro has a 12-2 record and leads the team with a 1.87 goals against average.
 
LAST MEETING:
 
The last time the Panthers and Eagles met was early last season when Davenport traveled to Bensenville, Ill. for two games against Robert Morris. The Eagles swept the Panthers with a pair of four goal wins. In the first game Mason Bohlinger got the scoring started to give DU a 1-0 lead, but the Eagles rattled off five straight goals to win the game 5-1.
 
In the second game of the series, Robert Morris scored the first goal of the game, but DU came back less than two minutes later to tie the game. However, the Eagles scored two more goals before the end of the first period to take a 3-1 lead after the first period. Cody Walsh brought the game within one to make it a one goal game, but Robert Morris scored the last three goals of the game to win 6-2.
 
WEEKEND RECAP:
 
The Panthers had a weekend home-and-home series against No. 7 Adrian last weekend and DU was able to split with the Bulldogs. The weekend started with a wild game on Thursday, where the Panthers had a 5-1 lead in the third period and the Bulldogs came back to tie the game. Phil Wendecker scored the game winning goal for the Panthers with less than two minutes remaining in regulation to give DU a 6-5 win.
 
The Panthers could not carry the momentum into the Friday game as Adrian scored the first four goals of the game, before DU finally scored. Davenport could not make a comeback as the Bulldogs won the final game of the weekend 5-1. The Panthers finished the GLCHL regular season with a 16-7-0-1 record as they closed out the conference regular season last weekend against Adrian.
 
THE PANTHERS:
 
Davenport is closing out their regular season against Robert Morris this weekend, and DU looks improve on the national ranking and stay inside the top 20 of the ACHA rankings. Andrew Frank is leading the way for the Panthers with 39 points and 26 assists on the season. Mason Bohlinger has 20 goals on the season to lead the way for Davenport. Bohlinger has 12 goals on the power play, which is second in the ACHA Division 1. DU has five players with at least 30 points on the season in; Frank, Bohlinger, Phil Wendecker, Robert Kleiman and Luke McCarthy.
 
In net, Phil Graveline has been splitting time with Matt Kaludis most of the season. Graveline has a 13-9 record on the season with a .91 save percentage and a 2.83 goals against average. Kaludis has an 8-4 record with a .917 save percentage and 2.18 goals against average.
 
GLCHL OUTLOOK:
 
Adrian has won the GLCHL regular season title and has the first seed in the conference tournament, while Davenport has locked up the second seed and Oakland the third seed. DU will play seventh place Kent State in the first round of the tournament, while Adrian gets a first round bye in the tournament. Oakland will face the sixth seed who is currently Eastern Michigan. However, the difference between fourth place and sixth place is just four points. Michigan-Dearborn is in fourth and has three GLCHL games left to play, Western Michigan is in fifth with two games left, and Eastern Michigan also has two games left to 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
Week 14 (1/8)                                       13th 
Week 15 (1/15)                                     12th
Week 16 (1/22)                                     12th 
Week 17 (1/29)                                     12th       
Week 18 (2/4)                                       16th
Week 19 (2/12)                                     12th

               
 
DI Ice Hockey Contact: David Gerhart | 616-554-5045 | dgerhart@davenport.edu
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