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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Davenport got a pair of second half goals to break a 1-1 halftime tie to post their eighth win in their last ten matches as they defeated Madonna 3-1 on Saturday night.  The Panthers got the opening goal from JC Smith, game winner from Ryan Duffy-McGirr and the final one from Stephen Solademi to improve to 8-4-0 on the year and 4-1-0 in league action.  DU travels to Aquinas on Wednesday for a key WHAC matchup with the Saints.

In a very physical game under the lights at DU Turf Field, the Panthers were the offensive aggressors in the second half and it worked to create a pair of goals to down visiting Madonna University (5-6-1, 1-3-1). Both teams created some chances early with MU posting the first three shots on goal, but DU broke through at the 23:19 mark when JC received a long pass from Dino Duratovic and put it by the keeper for the opening goal.

Madonna came right back however just 1:47 later to tie the match up after a poor defensive play by DU came back to haunt them and that would be the only scoring of the first half.
Just under 15 minutes into the second half, Davenport got a big boost from freshman Omar Mansah as he created some space in the MU goal box and was taken down to give the Panthers a penalty kick in which junior Ryan Duffy-McGirr converted in what would be the match winner.

With just less than 12 minutes to play in the match, Mansah again came up big for the Panthers as he went between three MU defenders and lofted a nice touch pass to Stephen Solademi who headed in the goal to give the home team a two-goal cushion and that would be how it ended.

Mirza Harambasic was outstanding in net for the Panthers as the sophomore posted four saves including a couple of finger-tip saves in the second half…Davenport, who has won its last four matches after dropping their conference opener, will travel across town on Wednesday to face Aquinas. Kickoff is set for 4:00pm.

Post-Match Notes
Davenport has now won 8 of their last 10 matches since an 0-2 start to the season…The goals by Ryan Duffy-McGirr and Stephen Solademi were the first of the season for the two…Mirza Harambasic earned his first win as a Panther in net…The Panthers are now 7-7 all-time against Madonna and upped their home record to 2-5 against the Crusaders

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