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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Second-ranked Davenport suffered another tough loss Saturday night falling 4-2 to #16 Illinois. Davenport trailed 3-2 before an Illinois empty net goal put the game out of reach for the Panthers. Davenport drops to 0-2 on the season and will have another tough test Sunday against Minot State.
Davenport got on the board first when Jonathon Frank netted a puck from Bo Jacobs just over two minutes into the game. But Illinois quickly responded with a power play goal a few minutes later to tie the game.
With a minute and a half left in the first period, freshman Kevin Noble gave Davenport the lead when he scored his first goal of the season. Noble was assisted on the play by another freshman, Zack Blumke. The Panthers led 2-1 heading into the first intermission.
For the second straight day, penalties in the second period proved detrimental to the Panthers. Illinois scored two power play goals in the second period to take a 3-2. This score would hold until the Illini added an empty net goal with less than a minute to play in the game.
Joe D'Elia got the start in net for Davenport. D'Elia stopped 26 of the 29 shots he faced in the loss.
The Panthers committed ten penalties to just four for Illinois. Davenport converted one of the four power play opportunities while Illinois converted three of ten. In the last two games, Davenport has allowed six power play goals.
Davenport has a quick turnaround and will play Sunday at 12:00 PM ET against Minot State. Minot State, ranked 12th in the country, came into the weekend 1-2-1. The Beavers are 2-0 this weekend having beat Oakland 5-2 and UM-Dearborn 10-3.
Post-Game Quotes – Head Coach Phil Sweeney
On improving penalty kill – “The penalties were 10-4 today. We are playing aggressive, but we need to be smart about it. We need to communicate better on defense while killing penalties.”
On conditioning and playing three games in three days – “It will be tough no doubt. These guys have worked hard for this weekend. Tomorrow is a big game, we need to come out and play 60 minutes to get our first win.”
Post-Game Notes
After outscoring their opponents 5-2 in the first period, the Panthers are being outscored 5-0 in the second period…In the past four years, Davenport has started 0-2 twice (2007-2008 and 2009-2010) and then went on to win the National Championship, in both instances Davenport won their third game…Davenport was outshot 30-19 against Illinois.
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