GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Davenport men's ACHA Division I hockey team had a pair of three-goal wins over the weekend against Hope College to open GL6 action. The Panthers have now won four straight and are 9-2 overall.
Friday night's game was in Holland and the Panthers trailed early but responded with three goals in the second period and two more in the third for the 5-2 victory. Davenport finished with 36 shots on goal with 11 in the first, 12 in the second, and 13 in the third.
Special teams were a big part of the story as DU went 2-for-3 on the power play and limited the Flying Dutchmen to 1-of-5 on the power play. Trailing 1-0 in the second period,
Jack Kelly tied the game at 6:44 with his eighth goal of the season from
Matt Carlson and
Jake Alton.
Benny Mielock gave the Panthers the lead at 10:25 with his fourth of the season from
Zach Schneider and
Sammy Mielock.
Hope tied it up at 14:08, but Davenport finished with three unanswered goals.
Sammy Mielock on the power play came with one second left in the second. His 10th of the season came from
Ethan Wallace and
Tony Kauffman. In the third period, Alton scored on the power play at 12:22 from
Liam Bland and Carlson. Carlson then added a goal at 18:46 with his fourth of the season from Alton.
Kyler Lowden made the start in net and stopped 31 shots for the win.
The return trip to Patterson on Saturday saw all nine goals scored at even strength. Davenport finished with 32 shots on goal compared to 30 for Hope. Carlson continued his good weekend with the only goal of the first period at 10:28 from Alton.
Hope took a 2-1 lead in the second period, but DU answered with four straight goals into the third period. Bland notched his fourth of the season at 9:23 from
Sammy Mielock.
Sammy Mielock then got his 11th goal of the season at 14:25 from
Luke Mikkola.
Ryan Blackburn started the third period scoring at 5:14 with his third of the season unassisted.
Benny Mielock increased the lead at 10:02 from Bland.
Sammy Mielock scored the final goal for DU at 16:57 of the third for an even dozen on the year from Kauffman and Mikkola.
Lowden once again got the goaltender start and made 27 saves in the win. The Panthers will welcome Louisville next weekend for a pair of non-conference games starting on Friday at 8:35 PM.
