Davenport University Athletics

Blake Hackbarth enters his second season as the head coach of the women's ACHA D1 hockey program. He helped engineer one of the best turnarounds in the country during his first season in 2025-26. The Panthers finished with a record of 11-16-1, which was a vast improvement from just one win and one tie during the 2024-25 campaign. The regular season finale was particularly sweet as they shutout Grand Valley State, 2-0, for their first win over the Lakers since Feb. 7, 2016. The team qualified for the CCHWA Tournament and fell to Miami University. The 11 wins was the first time since 2016-17 that the Panthers posted double-digit victories. Freshman forward Kacie Stolarek set the single-season school record with 38 goals and also led ACHA Division 1 in that category.

Hackbarth previously served as the owner of Fox Valley Hockey Training based out of Appleton, Wisconsin, since 2021, and he was also the head coach of the Fox Cities Stars Girls Hockey club since 2022. As head coach, the team had 11 scholar-athletes in three seasons and won three regional championships. Known for a dynamic coaching style and strong emphasis on teamwork, Hackbarth is expected to elevate the Panthers' performance in the upcoming seasond. In addition, he worked as a skills coach at Lawrence University in Appleton from 2022-24.