Box Score Box Score | Photo Gallery | Whitehouse and Visser Audio Interview

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Richard Visser came off the bench and recorded both of his goals in the second half to lift Davenport University to a 4-2 win over Madonna in the league opener for both schools.  The Panthers improved to 2-6-3 with the win while Madonna fell to 4-5-1.  DU will travel to Siena Heights next Saturday for a 12:00pm matchup against the Saints.

Davenport began WHAC play on Saturday looking to defend their crown from 2011 and thanks to a strong second half, the Panthers got off on the right foot.  DU struck first in the 10th minute when sophomore Donal Lynch put away a beautiful cross from senior Gerard John-Williams.

Madonna fought back to even the score at 1-1 at the 28:31 mark when Mustapha Olounnimbe scored but the Panthers got the upper-hand heading into halftime when Jesse Asanin-Miroux scored with only 41 seconds remaining in the first half on a second assist from John-Williams.

The second half saw three more goals scored with the first coming from the Crusaders 12 minutes in to even the score at 2-2.  DU then got a foul called in the box to give them a penalty kick as Richard Visser was tackled from behind on a breakaway. The senior stepped up and put the PK away to put DU up 3-2.  Visser would add a second goal in the 85th minute to ice the game and give DU a win in their conference opener.

Post-Match Quotes - Head Coach Carl Whitehouse and Richard Visser

Whitehouse on WHAC opening win - “It's good to get off on a winning note against a very good team who will be a challenger this year.  The big crowd and having a home game gives us the confidence to push on and it gives us a good chance moving forward.”

Visser on spark off the bench - “We had some opportunities and started to finish…we knew we could get another one but we needed to defend…Once we got the third one it opened some things up and when it got down to 10 minutes left, we gave everything we could because we needed a win.”

Post-Match Notes

The win lifts Davenport's all-time record vs. Madonna to 6-7-0 overall…Richard Visser's two goals ties him for the team lead for the season total with four other players…Davenport will travel to Siena Heights next Saturday to take on the Saints at 12:00 for their annual homecoming game…Davenport is now 5-2 all-time in WHAC openers and 6-1 in WHAC home openers