MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. - The men's ACHA Division II hockey team played three games over the weekend at the Lindenwood Showcase and came out with a win and two losses against top-notch competition. On Friday, the Panthers defeated Saint Louis University 9-4 in a game that came together after a cancellation by DU's original opponent Cincinnati. On Saturday, the team got to play in an outdoor rink which was a great experience and dropped a close game to Sault College 4-3. The final game on Sunday was against the host school Lindenwood and the Lions played exceptionally well in a 6-1 win over the Panthers.
The Panthers got their eighth win of the season on Friday over the Billikens. The nine goals scored by the Panthers are the second most this season after a 10-1 win on opening night against Purdue Northwest back on Oct. 1. Saint Louis struck first at 3:05 of the first period but then it was three straight Panther goals to take a 3-1 lead early in the second period.
Spencer Sandberg had the natural hat trick with two assists on those goals going to
Ryan Gamber and
Jeff Rahilly. The Billikens scored at 5:20 of the second period but again it was three consecutive goals by Davenport to make it 6-2 late in the period.
Hugo Fonovic,
Ryan Nicholson, and Gamber lit the lamp for DU. The teams traded goals in the third period as Fonovic scored again at 10:45 from
Alexander Brown and
Luke Nickolaus scored at 18:30 from Fonovic and Brown.
Nathan Hartline ended the scoring at 19:31 unassisted. All 13 goals in the game were scored at even strength.
DU squared off with Sault College, ranked fourth in the Central Region, on Saturday. The two teams had just finished a two-game series at Patterson Ice Center the previous weekend with DU earning a win and tie. The Cougars narrowly escaped with a 4-3 win after building a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes. Jace Pitzwanakwat opened the scoring at 11:21 and then Richard Webb scored back-to-back goals at 12:34 and 19:33. The Panthers regrouped in the second period as Rahilly scored his eighth goal of the season at the 41-second mark from Gamber. Caleb Wood gave Sault a 4-1 lead at 2:38 of the third period before the Panthers made things quite interesting down the stretch. Sandberg scored at 8:20 from Rahilly and
Arian Starin and then again on the power play at 18:20 from Rahilly and Gamber. DU pulled their goaltender late with about 20 seconds left but were called for a too many men on the ice penalty which ended their hopes of forcing overtime.
Drake Deering made 35 saves for the Panthers who held a 43-39 edge in shots on goal.
On Sunday, Lindenwood flexed their muscle as the top-ranked team in the Central Region and a contender to win the national championship this season. The Lions outshot the Panthers 66-26 en route to the 6-1 win. The Lions scored twice in each of the three periods. Michael Mullen scored twice with both coming in the third period. He also assisted on three of the other goals for a five-point day. Josh Linn also had a goal and two assists. Down 6-0, the Panthers scored at 15:41 to avoid the shutout. Fonovic scored his seventh goal of the season from Brown and Hartline.
Brenden Bogema made 60 saves in net for the Panthers.
