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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – In the middle of their toughest stretch on their schedule, the Davenport D1 Hockey team will look to rebound from three straight loses when they take on Liberty in a pair of games this weekend. The games scheduled for Friday and Saturday night are both scheduled to start at 7 PM and Liberty will have a live broadcast of both games.
This series will mark the beginning of the “Blue and Gray Cup” which will be awarded to the school that wins that best of three series each year. The cup was created to not only celebrate the rivalry that has grown between these two school over the past several years but to also pay tribute to the units from Michigan and Virginia that fought on the same battlefield in the Civil War.
Previewing Davenport
The Panthers have been plagued with injuries to start the season that has slowed the Panthers offense that averaged 8.75 goals over their first four games. But in their last three loses the Panthers have managed only four goals total while allowing over five per game.
One area that the Panthers will need to improve on to come away with a couple wins this weekend is their play on special teams, in particular their penalty kill. In their three loses this season, Davenport has allowed eight power play goals and one short-handed goal compared to four power play goals in favor of the Panthers.
The Panther currently have a 4-3 overall record and despite the three loses remain at No. 13 in the latest ACHA D1 Hockey Poll. Davenport will have to get things worked out quickly as after Liberty the Panthers return to Michigan for games against No. 6 Adrian and No. 4 Oakland.
Scouting Liberty
Liberty jumped out to a 8-0 record but then dropped three consecutive games at the ACHA D1 Showcase to No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 8 Minot State, and No. 13 Robert Morris. The Flames played tough against Oklahoma falling by a score of 5-4 and then dropped a 3-1 decision to Minot State. In their final game of the show, Robert Morris ran away with a 7-3 win. Liberty comes into this match-up with a 6-3 record and tied for eighth in the latest poll.
In order to come away with a win Davenport will have to stop the high scoring offense of Liberty and to do that they will need to stop Senior Rick Turner. Turner, who was a 34 goal/17 assist player a season ago, is on pace to surpass those numbers this season. Through 11 games Turner has 18 goals and 10 assists to lead the team in both goals and points. His 10 assists are tied for second on the team with Lindsay LeBlanc and Ryan Kerr, six assists behind team leader Ryley Egan. Egan also leads the team with four power play goals.
Liberty splits the time in net pretty evenly between Clayton Brown and Blair Bennett. Clayton holds a 5-1 record and a 2.34 goal against average. Blair has gotten the start in the past two games for the Flames and has a 3-2 record on the season and a 3.34 goal against average. There is a good chance that the Panthers will see both of these goalies at some point this weekend.
