MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. – The Drury Panthers D1 Hockey program built on their historic inaugural season, earning their second-straight American Collegiate Hockey Association National Tournament bid in 2025-26.
After an inaugural 2024-25 season in which the Panthers finished the regular season as the No. 9 team in the country and qualifying for the ACHA National Tournament quarterfinals, this season the team looked to improve on an already stellar first season.
While they finished the regular season with three more losses than their first year, their much-improved strength of schedule meant they reached as high as No. 4 in the country back in January and finished the regular season No. 6, heading into the national tournament.
With a top-8 ranking, the Panthers earned a first-round bye at the tournament this season, meaning they would await the winner of No. 11 Calvin University and No. 22 University of Rhode Island. Following a lopsided win in the first round, the matchup with the Calvin Knights was set for Saturday, March 14 at Centene Community Ice Centre.
The Panthers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on goals from freshman Nolan Bowsher and junior K-T Walters, but the Knights picked up a late first period goal to pull within one heading into the first intermission. Midway through the second period, sophomore defenseman Lucas Sadownyk scored a power play goal to give the Panthers their two-goal lead again, but just five minutes later, the Knights would again pull within one.
It didn't take long in the third period for the Knights to tie the game, resulting in a tense final regulation period, and while the Panthers had multiple opportunities to regain the lead, the game would head to overtime. Throughout the regular season, the Panthers were undefeated in overtime/shootouts, with a perfect 4-0 record, so, despite giving up a 2-goal lead twice, confidence was high, especially with the performance of sophomore goaltender Jozef Kuchaslo having already faced 35 shots in regulation.
The Panthers controlled much of the play in overtime, including earning a power play opportunity five minutes into the period. But, late in the first overtime period, which would turn out to be the longest overtime game of this year's tournament, the Knights took advantage of a scramble in front of the Panthers net, ending the Panthers season earlier than expected.
Despite the disappointing loss, the Panthers completed another impressive season in just their second year at the ACHA D1 level, finishing the regular season 23-4-0, for a combined program regular season record of 49-6-0, including an impressive 28-2-0 at home.
Kuchaslo, again, led the way in net for the Panthers with a 16-4-0 record, while junior goaltender Brett Sweet finished 6-0-0 and senior Joshua Robins picked up a win in his final game as a Drury Panther.
Offensively, the Panthers were led by sophomores Daniel Beaupre (35 points) and Anmol Garcha (34 points), while Walters also hit the 30-point mark with 31 points. In all, 16 Panthers players finished the season with double-digit point totals.
Garcha, along with freshman defenseman Grady Sterling-Ponech, earned ACHA All-Independent Third Team honors, while Sterling-Ponech also added All-Rookie Team honors. Four Panthers earned All-Academic Team honors, juniors Walters, Matthew Johnston and Jamison St. Clair, along with senior Francis Young-Menard.
