Weekly Notes | Live Stats Link

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Davenport will hit the road on Wednesday to start a three match away stretch in which they will play at Aquinas, Northwestern Ohio and Cornerstone. Two of those matches come against the first and third place teams in the WHAC and the other against a newcomer coming off its most impressive in school history. Davenport, under first year head coach Chris Hughes, is currently 8-4-0 on the year and 4-1-0 in league play and has won eight of its last ten matches.

The season started with five out of their first six matches away from the Turf Field and over the next ten days, the outlook is the same with three consecutive road contests beginning Wednesday with cross-town rival Aquinas College.  The Panthers, who are riding a 4-match winning streak, then travel to league newcomer Northwestern Ohio on Saturday to battle the Racers.

A look at Aquinas – 8-3-1, 3-1-0 – Wednesday, 4pm
Aquinas College and Davenport have formed a great rivalry over the past seven years that the Panthers have sponsored the sport of Men's Soccer. The all-time series us tied 8-8-1 and many of the great battles have come in the WHAC Tournament including a pair of championship games, with each team winning once. Wednesday's battle will not only be for bragging rights but to maintain pace with conference leader Cornerstone University.

The Saints post an 8-3-1 overall record thanks to a 6-0-0 mark on their home field. Aquinas has dropped only three matches so far this year, two of them to NAIA Top-25 teams and the other a double-overtime loss to the Golden Eagles in conference play. Tyler Fischer, the reigning WHAC Player of the Week, leads the team with 27 points and 12 goals while keeper Mike Sweers has been named the top defender in the conference twice already this season.

Previewing Northwestern Ohio – 5-6-0, 2-2-0 – Saturday, 3pm
The Racers are in their first year sponsoring men's soccer and are arguably coming off their biggest win in school history as they defeated Indiana Tech, who came into the match unbeaten in the conference.  The Racers are led by head coach Gavin Oldham who came to the school from national powerhouse Lindsey Wilson (Ky.).

Wesley Cain and Malaki Field lead the Racers in scoring with nine and eight points respectively as Cain is tops with four goals. Eight different players have posted goals for the team so far in 2012 while Liam DeVries, who is the reigning WHAC Defensive Player of the Week, is their lone keeper and has posted 46 saves and .767 save percentage.

These two matches are the first of three consecutive road matches in conference play as the Panthers will face Cornerstone on Saturday, October 20 at 7pm across town. Live stats will be available for both matches this week.

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