Box Score Photo Gallery

Site: Grand Rapids, Mich. (Patterson Ice Center)
Score: No. 12 Davenport 3, No. 2 Robert Morris 1
Records: DU (22-10-0-3), RMU (28-5-0-2)
Next DU event: Saturday, Feb. 15 – vs. Robert Morris (Ill.) – 5:30 p.m.
 
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Davenport D1 hockey team started their final weekend series of the regular season and a balanced attack lead the way for the team with the three different goal scorers. The Panthers now sit at 22-10-0-3 on the season after picking a big win against the second ranked team in the country, Robert Morris. The Panthers will face the Eagles once again tomorrow at Patterson Ice Center with a 5:30 p.m. faceoff to close out the regular season.
 
The Panthers looked to solidify themselves in the national picture with a hot start to the first game of the weekend against No. 2 Robert Morris. After back and forth play to start the game, Andrew Frank found a loose puck in the slot and jammed it home to give DU the 1-0 lead just 6:37 into the game. DU was able to hold the puck in the offensive zone for a good portion of the period but could not add on to their lead, as the Panthers took a 1-0 into the first intermission.
 
In the second period, both teams had chances to score, but neither team could cash in on their chances. The physicality picked up part way through the period and both teams seen a lot of special teams play in the closing stages of the period. Phil Graveline fought off some tough shots from the Eagles to keep it a 1-0 after two periods.
 
The physicality picked up right where it left in the second period until the Eagles found themselves on the power play and scored just seconds into the power play to tie the game at one with 12:45 left in regulation. Less than a minute later Robert Kleiman found the back of the net to give the Panthers the lead once again.
 
With 6:10 remaining in the period Luke McCarthy caught a nice pass from Kleiman and McCarthy buried the shot to increase the DU lead to two goals. Graveline stood tall at the end of the game to take beat Robert Morris 3-1 and take the first game of the weekend series.
 
After the game head coach Phil Sweeney talked about his teams performance tonight, "I feel like we played to our potential, and we played our systems, structurally, the best we has all year. The line of Flood, Ogden and Wischmeyer were matched up against one of the best lines in the country and frustrated them all game long. Tonight was a lot of fun."
 
Sweeney continued to talk about the game tomorrow, "We have a lot of momentum going into tomorrow, and we can not settle for just one win this weekend. I never view us winning as an upset, because we are Davenport, and that is what we do is, play good teams and we expect to win."
 
Luke McCarthy talked about his goal that sealed the game for the Panthers, "Wendecker passed it up to Kleiman and he was going wide where he likes to make a move to slide inside and take a shot. I figured if I was open he would pass the puck, and if not I would be able to pick up the rebound, but he made a good on the tape and it was a good play."
 
McCarthy also talked about his team's performance tonight, "It was a team effort, coach Sweeney set the tone real quick telling us that we had to play hard and play the body. I felt that we all bought into the system an that's why we won."     
 
The Panthers will hit the ice again tomorrow for their final game of the regular season against No. 2 Robert Morris at Patterson Ice Center for a 5:30 p.m. puck drop.
 
Post-Game Notes
 
The Panthers and Eagles had the same amount of shots with 29 each, and Phil Graveline made 28 stops to come away with the and move to 14-9-0 on the season. The Panthers had three different scorers in the game with Andrew Frank, Luke McCarthy and Robert Kleiman. Kleiman, Mason Bohlinger, Chris Eckler and Cody Walsh all tallied assists in the game.
 
DI Ice Hockey Contact: David Gerhart | 616-554-5045 | dgerhart@davenport.edu
DU Athletics: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram
DI Ice Hockey: Twitter | Facebook