NEWARK, Del – The Davenport University Panthers and the Lindenwood University Lions advanced to the finals of the 2011 American Collegiate Hockey Association’s Division One National Tournament with semifinal wins Tuesday. They will play for the ACHA Division One National Championship on Wednesday evening March 9 at 7 PM here in Newark, Delaware The 20the ACHL National Championship game will be skated at the Fred Rust Arena on the campus of the University of Delaware. The Panthers of Davenport finally put away a stubborn and hard working Ohio University Bobcats’ team 4-2 with three goals in the third period including an empty net goal with just ten seconds in the game. In the other matchup Lindenwood outlasted the University of Delaware Blue Hens 2 to 0 in another tight competitive game. ACHA member teams and their players fulfill a unique role for collegiate level men and women hockey players who want to continue to play ice hockey but who do not play varsity level sports or who go to schools without varsity level programs. The ACHA and its 440 plus men and women teams provide non varsity competition for men and women college students and the chance to play competitive hockey at the collegiate level. The ACHA is made up of over 10,000 players. Team rosters are generally made up of student athletes who have skated in various junior leagues, on high school or prep school teams or on major midget level teams across North America. A summary of tonight’s action follows: #2 Davenport University-4 vs. #3 Ohio University-2
The Bobcats of Ohio University gave Davenport all the wanted but in the end while giving the second seeded Panthers a bit of a scare Davenport outlasted the number three seeded Bobcats. The Bobcats badly outshot the Panthers 31 to 13 tonight but Davenport still came away with the win. The first period belonged to Ohio University. They dominated play and their hard work paid off when Tyler Pilmore and Michael Schultz set up Billy Herman coming down the slot and he lofted a nice wrist shot past freshman Davenport goal tender Joe D’Elia at the 3:58 mark of the period. That lead stood up until the second period. An ill advised penalty on the Bobcats’ defenseman Steve Osacky gave Lindenwood the power play. Osacky took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by continuing a dustup long after the whistle had sounded. When he came out of the box less than a minute later the Panthers’ Sean McWhorter had tied the game 1-1 with a power play goal. The tying goal came when McWhorter banged home a rebound off a shot from the point past Ohio goalie Blake MacNichol. The goal at 12:14 of the period drew assists from defenseman Jeff Slusser and forward Britt Ouellette. The Panthers next struck for two goals in the third period in a 15 second span of time and appeared on their way for an easy win. First at 8:56 of the period Sean McKenzie used a hard slap shot from the far side circle to beat MacNicol with helpers from Phil Wendecker and Jonathan Juliano. The Panthers struck again at 8:41 when a Bobcats’ defenseman tried to clear the zone and the puck was intercepted by Bo Jacobs who blasted a slap shot into the net from just inside the blue line. McKenzie drew the lone assist on the third Panther score. That 3-1 lead lasted until the Panthers drew two late period penalties that allowed the Bobcats to climb within 3-2. The Bobcats cashed in on a five on three man advantage with just over three minutes left in regulation time. Schultz got the score with a well placed wrister over the glove of D’Elia. That left Ohio with a one man advantage and they also pulled their goal tender for a six on four man advantage. Davenport held them off however and with just 10 seconds left Matt Morang found the empty net on a two one breakout as Bobby Collar head manned the puck to set up the game clinching goal. #1 Lindenwood University-2 vs. #5 University of Delaware-0
The University of Delaware Blue Hens dominated most of the game and had seven quality scoring opportunities but could not solve Lindenwood senior net minder Robi Cavallari as he and the rest of the Lions shutout the tournament’s host team and advanced into the finals. Another big crowd filled Fred Rush Arena but despite three breakaways and the other great chances Cavallari stonewalled the frustrated Blue Hens. Colin Long put the Lions ahead at the 5:29 mark of the opening period when a Blue Hens’ defenseman stepped up to play the puck but Long was able to grab it and walk in alone beating Delaware goalie SJ Broadt with a nifty backhander up high into the net. Bret Morrell and goalie Cavallari drew assists on the game winner. Senior forward Cory Spradling got an insurance goal at the 1:42 mark of the second period and Lindenwood was then able to simply kill off the remainder of the game despite constant Delaware pressure. Grant Gorczyca and Steve Balint were credited with assists on the Spradling wrist shot. Delaware continued to pressure the Lions in period three but despite a late game power play opportunity and pulling their goalie in the waning minutes of the game they could not dent the Lindenwood goalie and defense. Both teams had 24 shots on goal in the game. Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com
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