Feb. 29, 2008

Carmel, IN - The Panthers opened up the GMHL playoffs as the #1 overall seed and received a scare today from the #8 seed, Ferris State University. Fortunately, DU was able to come back strong the in the third period to down the Bulldogs 4-2. DU now advances to tomorrow's GMHL Semifinals at 9:45 AM.

The game started out exactly as the Panthers had hoped as they used a strong aggressive attack to jump out to a quick 1-0 lead on a goal from Wes Baughman. The goal came just 2:20 into the game and the Panthers seemed ready to pour it on. The Ferris State goaltender was tough though as the rest of the period went scoreless.

The second period was one to forget after an early goal by Adam Thomas to give DU a 2-0 lead as Davenport played sloppy and was whistled for numerous penalties. The big penalty came midway through the period as Chris Green was given a five-minute major that seemed very strange at the time. Davenport would then spend the next 7-minutes of the game at least a man down and did not allow a goal past them as Chris Joswiak was very solid in net. As soon as the penalties were served and it looked as if DU was in the clear, Ferris State found the back of the net to cut the Panthers lead in half. The two teams would go into the 2nd intermission with Davenport leading 2-1.

In the first minute of the third period, Ferris State seized the momentum it earned late in the 2nd and scored again to tie the game at two. The next 13 minutes was a defensive battle as both teams had their chances and again the Bulldog goaltender was outstanding as DU gave him almost everything they had. Then, with only 6:43 remaining, Davenport put a flurry of shots in front of the net and Chad Anguilm pounded home the rebound to take a 3-2 lead which would eventually go down as the game winner.