Feb. 15, 2009

Box Score

BYRON CENTER, Mich. - The Davenport D-III Hockey Program's chance at advancing to Nationals came to a screeching halt Saturday night as the Lakers of GVSU earned one of two bids to Rochester, NY with a 7-2 win. Davenport will still have two games left this season vs. Adrian and Delta.

The first period started bad for the DU side as they quickly fell behind 1-0 on a Grand Valley power play. Momentum would stay with GVSU as they put the Panthers down 2-0 with 11 minutes left in the first. Greg Schmidt gave the DU boys something to cheer about at the 14:58 mark, but that would change after only 11 seconds as the Lakers extended their lead to 3-1. As the Davenport bench prepared to head to the locker room down by two goals, Greg Schmidt fired in his second goal of the night to set the score at 3-2 giving the Panthers some momentum going into the first intermission.

Second period action would showcase Grand Valley's speed and experience as they added four goals off of 20 shots. The Panthers spent most of the period in their own zone with seemingly no chance at slowing down the relentless GVSU offense.

The last 20 minutes would prove better for DU as they only allowed eight shots on goal, but still Davenport was no match for the strong armed Grand Valley defense as they only allowed two shots on goal the entire period.

The loss will keep the Panthers out of the National Tournament giving GVSU the trip instead. The season record falls to 18-15 as the DU squad will have to prepare for a two game road trip at Adrian and Delta Colleges to close the 2008-2009 season.