NEWARK, Del- The Lindenwood University Lions and Davenport University Panthers were ranked as the number one and two teams respectively for most of the 2010-11 American Collegiate Hockey Association season. Thus it was fitting that Wednesday’s American Collegiate Hockey Association’s 20th Division One National Championship game went into overtime as the two teams staged a fierce battle at Fred Rust Arena on the campus of The University of Delaware to decided the national championship won by Davenport 3-2. The two evenly matched squads needed sixty minutes of regulation and over 15 minutes into sudden death overtime to decide the winner. The winning strike came off the stick of senior forward Jonathan Juliano who also scored the first Davenport goal in the game late in the second period. On the game winning shot Juliano broke into his offensive zone off a nice set up pass from Adam Kuhn. Initially his shot appeared to be another routine stop by Lions’ goal tender Robi Cavallari but it deflected off the skates of a Lindenwood defenseman, ricocheted in another direction and into the goal. Thus the Panthers claimed the 2011 D-1 Championship trophy. There was a bit of irony in the winning goal. A similar late period deflection off a Davenport defenseman had allowed Lindenwood to tie the game at 2-2 late in the third period. The tying goal came with just 2:15 left in regulation time to force overtime. That goal was scored by Lindenwood senior Cory Spradling who after some hard work and assists from team mates Colin Long and Jeremy Meletti gained puck possession at the side boards deep in the Davenport end. Spradling simply flicked the puck towards the crease but it bounced off a Panthers defenseman’s shin pads forging the late third period 2-2 tie. Lindenwood and Davenport both brought impressive tournament records into tonight’s game. Lindenwood came in having won two straight national D-1 titles while Davenport had won three straight D-2 national championships before moving up to Division One this season. The matchup behind the bench featured Coach Paul Lowden in his ninth season with the Panthers. A former NCAA D-1 player at Ferris State the Toronto native has more than 250 wins behind the Panthers bench. He was matched up against Lions’ mentor former NHL player Rick Zombo. The former St. Louis Blues’ player served the past two years as the Lions’ assistant coach before moving into the head coach job this season. While many observers expected a fast skating free-wheeling affair between two high powered offenses both teams seemed to concentrate on defense in a tight tough struggle through the first two periods. The first period was scoreless despite three power play opportunities for the Lions. In fact, despite their six minutes of power plays in the period the Lions had only a few real scoring chances. The teams skated off after the first intermission tied 0-0 as both goalies had made a number of excellent saves. The goaltenders Phil Graveline for Davenport and Cavallari for Lindenwood along with their defenses continued their excellent play in period two as the scoring chances opportunities for both teams picked up. Cavallari was especially good as he stepped up in the second period when Lindenwood’s forward Adam Krefski was sent off by Referee Todd Lacina for a major penalty on a check from behind. Davenport had a number of point blank opportunities but Cavallari stonewalled the Panthers for the entire five minute man advantage. Finally, with just 53 seconds left in period two, Davenport’s Juliano got the first of his two goals. Hard work down low behind the net by Kuhn and Brit Ouellette started the play. A nifty centering pass from behind the net by Kuhn was quickly deposited into the net by Juliano who was just three feet outside the crease. The 1-0 lead held as the teams went into the second intermission
Lindenwood fought back from the one goal deficit by ramping up the pressure on Graveline producing a heavy barrage of early third period shots. The Lions’ pressure paid off when Grant Gorczyca got his fourth goal of the tournament 9:30 into the period. His wrist shot was set up by Tyler Bowman. Davenport charged out again to a lead this time 2-1 as Kyle McDowell drifted down the high slot and one timed a nice pass past Cavallari. Bobby Collar who was at the middle of the near side circle fed a perfect pass to set up the hard one timer. Jared Mailloux also drew an assist on the goal. The 2-1 lead for Davenport came with just 4:44 minutes in regulation and appeared to seal the game. However, once again Lindenwood came back with the aforementioned Spradling deflection off the Davenport defense for the 2-2 tie. Overtime saw both goalies make a number of excellent saves. On the night the Lions outshot the Panthers in all three periods. Graveline made 39 saves on 42 shots while Cavallari made 31 saves on 33 Davenport shots on goal in absorbing the loss. The end as it does in sudden death came quickly. Just as it appeared the game was headed for a second overtime period Juliano won it for Davenport and the celebration commenced. Note: 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. Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com
