Box Score LYNCHBURG, Va. – Davenport overcame two blown leads in the third period to defeat Liberty 6-5 in a shootout. Liberty scored with 13 seconds left in the third period to force overtime and after a scoreless extra period the Panthers defeated the Flames 2-1 in the shootout to secure the win. The win clinches the inaugural “Blue and Gray Cup”, that goes to the winner of the best of three game series, for the Panthers.
 
Davenport fell behind early but a Dustin Wischmeyer breakaway goal tied the game at one with six minutes to play in the first. The Panthers kept that momentum going in the second period will three straight goals by Robert Kleiman, Stephan Flood, and Mason Bohlinger to give the Panthers a 4-1 lead.
 
Liberty scored a goal with 36 seconds left in the second period to cut the lead to 4-2. Davenport would hold that lead for much of the third period but two goals in 35 second by Liberty tied the game at 4-4 with 4:28 remaining in the period.
 
Bohlinger appeared to net the game winner when he connected on a pass from Tyler Quigley and Phil Wendecker to give the Panthers a one goal lead with 1:41 left in the period. But with 13 seconds left Liberty snuck one past Matt Kaludis to send the game to overtime.
 
After a scoreless extra period the game went to a shootout. Andrew Frank got the nod first for Davenport in the shootout. Frank made a nice move and was able to lift a back handed shot past the Liberty net minder to put the Panthers up 1-0. After the Liberty skater tied it at 1-1, Phil Wendecker was sent up for the Panthers sent a shot just wide.
 
Still tied 1-1, Kleiman was the third skater for the Panthers. Kleiman skated right at the Liberty goalie and put a wrist shot over the goalies shoulder and into the top right corner for the score. Facing Liberty's Rick Turner, the ACHA leader with 18 goals coming into this weekend, Kaludis came up big in net for the Panthers and made the stop to secure the Davenport win.
 
Matt Kaludis picked up his second win of the season in net for the Panthers stopping 33 of the 38 shots he faced and two of the three he faced in the shootout as Davenport improves to 6-3 on the season.
 
With the weekend sweep, Davenport wins the inaugural “Blue and Gray Cup”. The cup is awarded to the school that wins the best of three series each year. The cup was created to not only celebrate the rivalry that has grown between Davenport and Liberty 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.
 
Post-Game Quotes – Head Coach Phil Sweeney
 
“Our team found out how hard it is to win a game tonight. Liberty never quit, and I'm happy we came out with a tough road win. I'm also very happy with us winning the “Blue and Gray Cup”. This will be a great trophy to play for.  I am proud that Davenport will be the team that will always be known as the inaugural winner.”
 
Post-Game Notes
 
This weekend marks the second year in a row that the Panthers have swept Liberty in Lynchburg…Davenport is now 15-14-1 all-time against Liberty…The Panthers improve to 6-3 on the season.