DEARBORN, Mich. – Davenport rebounded from an 8-7 loss Friday night with a 9-3 win at UM-Dearborn Saturday night. Phil Wendecker, who had a hat trick, knocked in a short-handed goal with one second remaining in the first to give Davenport a one goal lead, this was the closest the Wolves would get the rest of the night en route to the Panthers 9-3 win. Davenport will take on GVSU tomorrow evening at 6:00 PM.
Philip Tesoriero got things started for Davenport giving the Panthers the early lead with a goal 1:35 in the first period. After a UM-Dearborn goal, Phil Wendecker was able to knock in a shot past the Wolves goalkeeper with less than a second to play in the period.
A few minutes into the second period, Phil Wendecker's slap shot made its way past the Wolves goalie for the power play goal to give the Panthers a two goal edge. In the middle of the second period, Jeff Slusser got on the board. Slusser received a pass from Mason Bohlinger and made one move in front of the net before putting it away.
After giving away last night's game, Davenport didn't let off heading into the final period. Jeff Slusser added his second goal 1:40 into the period and about four minutes later Wendecker notched his third goal of the game.
Davenport reached their largest lead of the game with 13 minutes left in the period when a Bo Jacobs goal put Davenport up 7-1.
After UM-Dearborn scored two goals in the middle of the period, Chris Ballatore and Ben Dykstra scored for DU to finish off the Wolves.
Phil Graveline, in 50 minutes of play, stopped over 50 shots and allowed only two goals to earn the win. This was the second night in a row that Graveline has faced over 50 shots. Matthew Sekosan played the final 10 minutes allowing one goal.
Davenport improves to 16-14 on the season and 13-2 in league play. The Panthers will be in action again tomorrow at 6:00 PM when they travel to Grand Valley State.
Post-Game Quotes – Assistant Coach Bill McSween
Thoughts on Game – After last night's disappointing loss the boys regrouped to play a better overall game. We came out from the first shift of the game attacking the net. Wendecker had a huge game with three goals and scored a huge goal with one second left (in the first) to give us a 2-1 lead. The boys stuck together the full 60 minutes. Graveline kept UMD off the scoreboard with huge saves. The coaches were real happy with how the boys were mentally tough and how they played for each other.
Talk a little about your game tomorrow at GVSU – We need to play a full 60 minutes of hockey. Grand Valley has been on fire and they feel there the best team in the state of Michigan. They beat us in our own barn because we didn't play a full 60 minutes. Tomorrow whoever plays the hardest will win. If we stay together and outwork GVSU then we will be successful.
Post-Game Notes
Davenport scored on three of their four power play opportunities…Phil Wendecker scored five goals in the two games against UM-Dearborn this weekend and has scored at least one goal in each of Davenport's last four games…The Panthers goalies have faced a total of 117 shots in the past two games.
