Feb. 14, 2009

Box Score

ROCHESTER, Mich. - Davenport cruised to a 4-2 win on Friday night to claim the season series against arch-rival Oakland and keep the good luck duck in Grand Rapids for at least another year. DU improves to 32-4 on the year.

The 2007-08 ACHA DII National Champions faced off on Friday the 13th at the Onyx in Rochester, MI against arch rival ACHA DI Oakland University. "As a player or a coach, you always look forward to this matchup. The rivalry continues to thrive and the games are very intense." statesd assistant coach Phil Sweeney.

With the "Good Luck Duck" on the line Davenport came out with alot of energy something that has been missing consistently from the Panther's game the second half the season. Veteran leader Rick Gadwa opened the scoring for the Panthers on a power play goal (his 100th in his Davenport career) at the 11:57 mark of the first. The goal was assisted by Kevin Doyle and Jeff Kraemer. "We have struggled a little on the power play. It was nice to see us capitlaize on our first opportunity of the game" stated head Coach Paul Lowden. Davenport outshot the the grizzlies 15-9 in the first period.

The second period started out very similar to the first with the alot of energy. The last 14 minutes the Panthers spent most of it on the penalty kill as Davenport was called for 7 of their 9 penalities in the second period. The Panther's were up to the challenge and shut down Oakland's power play. Bobby Collar extended the Panther's lead to two goals with a shorthanded top shelf goal at the 12:01 mark with Kevin Brojek assisting on the play. Davenport continued to outshoot the Grizzlies by throwing 11 shots at OU goalie Alex Pikunas. Netminder Chris Joswiak saw only eight shots in the second.

In the third, the Grizzlies got on the board with an unassisted effort by OU left winger Jesse Worrel at the 4:02 mark to cut the lead to one. Oakland capitalized again at the 10:28 mark to tie the score. The Panther's did not panic and continued to play agressively. Rick Gadwa scored his second of the night on another clapper from the top of the circle to put the Panthers back on top with only seven minutes remaining. Davenport played solid defensive hockey along with timey saves by Chris Joswiak to keep the Grizzlies off the board the rest of the way. "I was proud of how we played defensively, we did not panic and kept our compusure late in the game" stated assistant coach Jamie Bradford. Former Grizzlie Jonah Rogowski continued his scoring success against his past team with a late empty netter to seal the win.

The game finished off a little heated which will make the second game of the two game weekend series this Saturday evening even more exciting. With the win last night the Panthers hold on to the "Good Luck Duck" for another season taking the first two games of the season's three game series.

The Panther's Hockey team would like to thank the Davenport University Warren Campus and their staff for their hospitality earlier in the evening and their support at the game. Their support along with our dedicated fans made it a fun evening last night.

Game time vs the Oakland Grizzlies is 7:15 PM tonight at Patterson Ice Center