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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Davenport fell to Liberty Thursday night in the third and final game of the Blue & Gray Cup. Davenport jumped out to the early lead but three unanswered goals by Liberty put the Panthers behind 3-1. Davenport came back to tie the game at three but Liberty scored just over a minute the third to take the lead for good. Davenport is back in action Friday night when the Panthers begin a home-and-home series at UM-Dearborn.
 
Matt Ogden got the scoring started for the Panthers when he netted an unassisted goal just over five minutes into the first period. A few minutes later Liberty got on the board to tie the game at one. Both teams got good opportunities to take a lead later in the first period but both goalies came up with some big saves to keep the game tied.
 
The first half of the second period was all Liberty. The Flames took the lead just over five minutes into the second period and they took a two goal lead seven minutes later. With just over four minutes to play in the second period, Phil Wendecker put an end to the three goal Liberty run to pull the Panthers within one. Wendecker received a pass from Mason Bohlinger and Bo Jacobs and sent a wrist shot to the top corner of the net past the Liberty goalie. With 26 seconds left in the period, Alex Ostrowski scored to pull the Panthers even with the Flames at 3-3. Ostrowski got a pass from Wendecker then toe dragged the puck freezing the Liberty goalie before sending a shot just inside the far post.
 
Davenport was unable to capitalize on that momentum and a minute into the third period Liberty scored to retake the lead. Davenport put pressure on Liberty for the rest of the period but weren't able to get anything past the Liberty goalie. The Flames added an empty net goal with 28 second left to end the Panthers chances of a last minute comeback.
 
Phil Graveline got the start in net for the Panthers. He stopped 25 of the 29 shots he faced in the loss. The Panthers outshot the Flames 43-30.
 
Prior to the game, Davenport was presented with the Blue & Gray Cup. The Panthers clinched the Cup by winning the first two games of the best of three series. The Cup which is in its inaugural year pays homage to the soldiers from Grand Rapids, Mich. and Lynchburg, Va. that faced each other on the battlefield during the Civil War.
 
Post-Game Quotes – Head Coach Phil Sweeney
 
Thoughts on game – “It's frustrating that we couldn't complete the sweep. I thought our guys offensively played really solid, we had a lot of good scoring chances. Bennett made a lot of good saves for Liberty. Defensively we still have stuff to work on and it cost us. They took advantage of their opportunities and we didn't  and they're a good hockey team and that's what's going to happen. They played well.”
                                   
Thoughts on the Cup and what it means to both the programs – “It's still new so we are still trying to figure out what it means. But is still nice to get the series win against Liberty because they have been such a good rival. It would always be nice to sweep them but it's tough. They're good and we're good and it's tough to beat a team three times when you have two good teams.”
 
Post-Game Notes
 
The all-time series is now tied up at 15-15-1…The Panthers are 2-2-0-1 at home this season.

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