GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The D3 Hockey Team came back from break refreshed and looking to dive back in to their conference schedule against one of the best teams in the country in Hope College. The Sailors came into the weekend #3 in the North Region, and they've only suffered two defeats this season, both at the hands of the top-ranked Michigan Wolverines.
 
Friday, January 11
Final Score: Davenport 1 – Hope 11
Records: #20 DU (2-8-1), #3 HC (15-2-1)
Location: Griff's IceHouse West (Holland, Mich.)
 
ANSWERING BACK
The game started back and forth, with Hope garnering the majority of the chances, but Hope's leading scorer Brad Baysore put the Sailors out in front just before the seven-minute mark of the contest. However, the Panthers would answer back just 100 seconds later, as Parker Schmitt set up Brendan Schievink for his third goal of the season, and the game was tied at one. It was not tied for long, though, as Peter Stewart scored his 13^th of the season to give Hope their second lead of the game. Riley Draper would tally one more later on in the period, and the Sailors would take a 3-1 lead into the break.
 
SLIPPING AWAY
Davenport tried to hang in there with one of the best teams in the country in the second, however a weird play seemed to have derailed any momentum the Panthers had. After a clear from the Sailors' Brendan Sanders, Austen Strauss came out to play the puck, but a quick slip of his focus allowed the puck to slide passed him and into the net. Strauss' night was unfortunately cut after that, and Jordan Tafel entered into the game. Tafel made a couple of nice stops for the Panthers, but Nicholas Stamas would score just after the halfway mark of the period. Hope would carry their four-goal lead into the final 20 minutes of play.
 
The third period featured an onslaught of Hope offense. Austen Peterson first scored his sixth goal of the season just under two minutes in, followed up by Jake Faustyn's sixth just a few minutes later. Davenport seemed to hold the Sailors at bay until the closing minutes, until Hope scored four goals in just over a three-minute span. Noah Weigle, Cole DeVos, Allan Hirsch, and Maxwell Mones were the culprits, as Hope would take the first game of the weekend by a score of 11-1.
 
Saturday, January 12
Final Score: Davenport 1 – Hope 6
Records: #20 (2-9-1), #3 HC (16-2-1)
Location: Kentwood Ice Arena (East Kentwood, Mich.)
 
ROUGH AND TOUGH
The first period started with the Panthers really going after the Sailors, showing that the night before showed no scars on the Davenport roster. Each team had glorious chances throughout the first half of the opening 20 minutes, but neither team could find the back of the net. Late in the first, however, Baysore would feed a streaking Skylar Miller in the high slot. Miller would allow a screen to develop in front of Strauss, and he would fire home his fourth of the season to put Hope out in front. Just over a minute later, Jakub Myska would sneak past Schmitt, and put a shot just under the crossbar to give Hope a 2-0 lead after one.
 
QUICK REACTION
The Panthers knew they would need a good start to period two if they wanted to get back into the game, and seemed to have done just that when they had the puck in the Hope zone. However, the Sailors would quickly break out on a 2-on-1, and Peterson fed a perfect pass across to Baysore, who fired a shot across the body of Strauss, and top-corner for his team-leading 20^th goal of the season. Just 19 seconds later, the Sailors would come right back at the Panthers, as Weigle scored his second goal in as many games to put Hope up by four.
 
SETTLING THINGS DOWN
After Baysore scored his second of the game to give the Sailors a five-goal cushion, the Panthers began to play more efficiently in their own end, thanks to the play of Strauss. The Aurora, Colorado native made some good-looking stops to keep Hope from adding to their total, including a pair of saves on the Sailors' Noah Arent. Shortly after that sequence, Charlie Bonser would pick up the puck, in the Hope end, fake a shot, stepped to his right, and sniped home his ninth of the season to put the Panthers on the board.
 
Heading into the third, DU continued to make it difficult on the Sailors in their own end. Yet, the Sailors would tally one more before it was all said and done, as Arent, after receiving a nice saucer pass from Myska, deked around Strauss to put home his sixth goal of the season. Hope would go on to win their 11^th straight game against the Panthers, dating back to 2014, 6-1.
 
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Despite giving up six goals, Strauss did all that he could to hold of the Sailors, making 50 saves in the game.
 
Head Coach Eric Sikkenga was pleased to see how his goaltender played following Friday night's early departure. "I think he responded well," Sikkenga said post-game. "I know he would like to have two of those back, but other than that he played good."
 
Coach Sikkenga also liked his team's overall performance compared to the first game of the weekend. "Other than a couple of bad shifts we had...I think we played a lot better."
 
WHO'S NEXT?
The Panthers will play their second home-and-home this season against their opponents from Ferris State Clubdawgs. Ferris is currently ranked #9 in the North Region, and with a record of 18-9-1. The ClubDawgs took the first two meetings of the season, a 6-0 win at Patterson along with a 7-5 victory up in Big Rapids. The first game of two will be on Friday at Ewigleben Ice Arena in Big Rapids at 8 p.m., with the Saturday matchup to take place at Patterson for a 6:30 p.m. puck drop.
 
Story by: Tyler Kuehl
 
Picture credit: Alexis Hoffman