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Sunday
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Davenport took game one of the “Good Luck DUck” series last Sunday with a 4-2 win over Oakland. Davenport will look to continue that success in a home-and-home series with Oakland this weekend. The Panthers will travel to Oakland Friday night before returning to Patterson Ice Center to take on the Golden Grizzlies on Saturday. Davenport will wrap up the weekend with a match-up with Western Michigan on Sunday at Patterson.
Davenport moved into the top-10 of the ACHA top-25 poll for the first time this season after going 2-1 last week with wins over No. 3 Adrian and No. 5 Oakland. Despite losing to the Panthers, Oakland remained ahead of Davenport in the rankings coming in at No. 7. Adrian, No. 3, and Eastern Michigan, No. 20, were the other GLCHL schools represented in the rankings.
In Sunday's game, the Panthers were able to get up early when
Robert Kleiman redirected a
Phil Wendecker shot into the back of the net. After Oakland tied the game at 1-1,
Travis White scored a power play goal to regain the lead for Davenport. A few minutes into the third period,
Tyler Quigley put the Panthers up two. Leading by one, Quigley put away an empty net goal to secure the win for the Panthers and give them a 1-0 lead in the series.
Phil Graveline picked up the win in net.
Scouting Oakland
Oakland comes into this match-up ranked No. 7 in the latest poll with a 8-3-1 record. Despite the loss to the Panthers, Oakland still went 2-1 last week with a pair of wins against Western Michigan.
The Golden Grizzlies will be led by Billy Balent who leads the team in both assists and points with six and 13 respectively. His six goals are second on the team behind Anthony Colizza's eight goals. In last week's game Davenport was able to keep both of these players off the scoreboard and will need to do so again this weekend if they want to come away with a couple wins. Frank Matyok and Dustin Hopfner picked up goals against the Panthers last week for Oakland.
Matt Toter got the start in net for Oakland against the Panthers last Sunday allowing four goals on 22 Davenport shots. Coming into that match-up, Toter had allowed only 11 goals in his previous six starts, a goal against average of 1.83. Davenport will probably also see Corey Hrischuk this weekend. In four starts, five appearances, Hrischuk has a 3-1 record with a 1.60 GAA and a 0.93 save percentage.
Previewing Western Michigan
Western Michigan comes in with a 1-13 overall record having lost both games against Oakland last weekend and losing to Adrian Thursday night. The Stallions still have one game against Adrian on Friday night before traveling to Grand Rapids on Sunday.
The Panthers are 14-3 all-time against the Stallions and already own a pair of convincing wins against Western Michigan having defeated them 11-3 and 11-2 to start the season. But the Panthers can't take them lightly as the Stallions nearly pulled off the upset against Adrian Thursday night falling by a score of 6-5 in Adrian.
Five different players scored on Thursday night for the Stallions but Western Michigan is led by Nicholas Elliott. Elliott leads the team with seven goals and is tied for the team lead in points with nine. JT Osborn also has nine points having recorded six goals and three assists. Mitch Rogowski is the team leader in assists with six on the season.
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