Jan. 23, 2009
Box Score
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - DU trailed by two goals twice tonight, but scored five of the game's final seven goals in route to a 7-5 victory over Michigan. The win lifts the Panthers to 27-3 on the year and 9-2 in conference play.
After downing Liberty University in both games last weekend, the Panthers returned to GMHL play tonight as they downed their rivals from Ann Arbor 7-5. The game started out very poorly for DU as the Wolverines scored twice in the opening five minutes of play with one coming on a power play.
Davenport responded though with two goals of their own in the opening period. The first came at the 11:40 mark when Jonah Rogowski scored the first of his two goals with Kevin Doyle and Ben Dykstra getting credit for the assist. Adam Thomas then added a late goal with just less than two minutes remaining after he batted home a rebound off the stick of Bobby Collar.
Michigan again controlled the first part of the second period and scored two straight goals to give them their second two-goal lead of the game. DU once again stood strong in their own building and Rogowski got the Panthers within one with only 8:01 remaining when he scored on an assist from Doyle and Collar. Five minutes later, Kevin Moodie hooked up with Chad Rutzel from behind the net to even the score at 4-4.
With just under a minute to play in the second, Davenport found itself on the short end of some chippy penalties but Adam Thomas gave the team a boost when he intercepted a pass deep in the Wolverines defensive zone and put it by the UM Goaltender to give DU its first lead of the game.
The third period featured alot of the same cheap penalties on both sides but Adam Thomas scored his third goal of the game for a hat trick to put DU in full control. A UM goal at the 8:44 mark made the last 11:16 a little more interesting but Bobby Collar finally got on the goal train on an assist from Kevin Brojek and Jeff Kraemer as DU would hold on for the 7-5 win.
DU now stands at 27-3 on the year with a Saturday night off this weekend. The Panthers will return to action Friday, January 30 when they host Grand Valley State in a huge GMHL showdown at Patterson Ice Center. Game time is set for 8:15.
