OXFORD, Ohio - The men's ACHA Division II hockey program made the trek to Miami University for a three-game showcase against some of the best programs in ACHA Division II. The Panthers opened the weekend with a 3-2 shootout win on Friday over Concordia (Wis.) but could not sustain that success with an 8-2 loss on Saturday against Sault College and a 10-3 loss on Sunday against the host RedHawks.
Stats were not provided for the victory over Concordia on Friday night on the ACHA website. On Saturday, Sault College opened up a 3-0 lead midway through the game with the only goal of the first period and two more goals in the second period. Ethan Esposito scored his 29th goal of the season at 14:52 of the middle period for that three-goal advantage.
Nathan Hartline got the Panthers on the board with one tick left in the second period for his 12th goal of the season from
Arian Starin and
Zach Schneider.
Starin would score the team's other goal on the power play at 6:42 of the third period to make it 4-2 at the time. The Cougars pulled away with the last four goals of the game as Esposito scored his 30th of the season at 12:05 and Caleb Wood finished his hat trick with 30 seconds to play.
Austin Bartell made 37 saves in net for the Panthers.
The RedHawks scored the first four goals of the game on Sunday and then DU scored all three of their goals in the second period. The RedHawks however matched that with three goals to keep their lead.
Ryan Gamber scored his fifth of the season from Starin and
Rayce Jacobs at 4:31.
Brayden Bartlett then scored his ninth of the season on the power play at 13:52 unassisted. Hartline concluded the scoring for DU at 17:06 also unassisted.
