HOLLAND, Mich. - In a back-and-forth contest filled with special teams action and momentum swings, Davenport University's ACHA men's Division 1 squad came up just short in a 6-5 decision against Hope College on Wednesday night at Griff's IceHouse West in the first round of the Great Lakes Six Conference Tournament.

The Panthers battled throughout, erasing a two-goal deficit in the second period and twice pulling within one in the third, but Hope capitalized late to secure the win and advance to the tournament semifinals on Friday at Patterson Ice Center in Grand Rapids. They will face Calvin in another edition of the heated rivalry.

Hope opened the scoring at 8:47 of the first period on a power-play goal from Aleksander John, assisted by Gerdas Paulauskas and Connor Dvorak. Davenport responded at 14:16 when Luke Mikkola netted his seventh goal of the season off assists from Sammy Mielock and Bryan Fenlon, evening the score at 1-1. The Flying Dutchmen regained control late in the period. Cade Pratt buried his 22nd goal of the season at 18:40, and John added his second of the night on a power play near the one-minute mark, sending Hope into the intermission with a 3-1 advantage. The opening frame was physical, featuring multiple penalties on both sides, with Hope converting twice on the man advantage.

Davenport stormed back early in the second. Just 1:14 into the period, Brendan Bauer found the back of the net, finishing a feed from Taber Gutschick and Branwen Pollett to cut the deficit to 3-2. Bauer struck again at 6:05 on the power play, converting assists from Jake Alton and Gutschick to tie the game at 3-3. The pair of goals marked Bauer's 19th and 20th tallies of the season. Hope regained momentum late in the frame, however. Gunnar Suidinski scored at 16:23, and Paulauskas added another at 19:05 to restore a two-goal cushion heading into the third period.

The Panthers refused to back down. Pollett brought Davenport within one at 14:47, finishing a play set up by Liam Bland and Zach Schneider to make it 5-4. Hope answered quickly at 16:15, as Logan Nickolaus tallied his 25th goal of the year to push the lead back to two. Less than 30 seconds later, Davenport responded once more. Bland buried his eighth goal of the season at 16:43, assisted by Robert McLaughlin and Matthew Carlson, trimming the margin to 6-5. The Panthers were attempting to pull goaltender Kyler Lowden for the extra attacker with under two minutes remaining, but Fenlon was whistled for interference at 18:11 and severely hindered a chance for the tying goal.

By the Numbers

• Shots on Goal: Davenport 37, Hope 32
• Power Plays: Davenport 1-for-4, Hope 2-for-3
• Lowden made 26 saves on 32 shots in net for the Panthers, while Sebastian Wigfield stopped 32 of 37 shots for Hope.