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 For Immediate Release: November 8, 2013
Site: University Center, Mich.
Score: Davenport University, Saginaw Valley State University
Records: DU (11-2), SVSU (2-8)
Next DU event: Saturday, November 9 Vs. Saginaw Valley at 7:20 at Patterson Ice Center

 UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – With John Cruse in net, the Panther defense held down the fort and defeated SVSU 6-3 at their home rink in University Center, Mich. Several skaters for Davenport found the back of the net, including Jake Otto who scored in period two and leads his team in goals with eleven. Cruse had his eyes on the prize tonight and was able to gather several glove saves from shot fired by the Cardinals. DU looks for a similar outcome tomorrow when Saginaw Valley hits the road and comes down to Patterson Ice Center for a 7:20 p.m. game to finish the weekend series.   

As soon as the first puck of the game was dropped, Davenport was ready to play. The Panthers began firing shots at the Cardinals goalie right away and quickly gained control of game with adequate puck control. Offensive opportunities became frequent for the away team and three and a half minutes in Brandon Madaj put his team on the map with a quick drive down the ice and a fierce wrist shot that nailed the back of the Cardinals net for the early 1-0 lead. Saginaw Valley picked up the pace a little bit after DU's first goal but Blake Damerow was quick to change that when he too got a goal for the Panthers. Dylan Welch, who leads SVSU in goals, was able to put one on the board for his team with 5:20 to go. Even after a constant level of persistence put on by DU, the score was still 2-1 at the end of the first.

Entering the second period, the Panthers had some space in the score to work with but SVSU swiftly took that away from them after a second period goal just seven seconds in. The Cardinals pushing the score to 2-2 was like an alarm clock for Davenport who brought their game to the next level. DU saw better defense, better passes, which resulted in a couple key Panther goals. The first came exactly half way through period two when Jordan Crawford slipped a pass to Bryon Guerin who capitalized on a prime goal and put his team in the lead. Jake Otto extended his season lead in goals when he scored his eleventh goal with 8 minutes to play. One minute later Crawford kept the offensive train rolling with a shot from the back of the Cardinals zone that found its way past Mitchel Leist who couldn't even see the shot coming at him. With five minutes and fifty seconds left in the period Saginaw Valley cut the Panthers lead to two goals, with a score of 5-3. Both teams held their own for the remainder of period two.

A two goal lead gave the Panthers the upper hand when the puck dropped at the start of the third. DU's offense worked effortlessly to keep the puck in Saginaw's zone as much as they could and it paid off. The screaming SVSU fans couldn't get in the heads of Daniel Swink and Guerin when Guerin drove the puck down the left side of the ice, performed an impressive move with his stick and gave Swink the perfect one-time opportunity in which Swink capitalized on an excellent slap-shot right to the back of Cardinals net. A three goal lead is exactly what the Panthers needed to maintain control of this game. The last half of the third period was an aggressive battle for the puck that neither team seemed to be able win. The Panthers fought hard but couldn't get another shot past SVSU's goalie.

With a 6-3 win tonight in game one of the weekend series, DU will return to Patterson tomorrow night for game two starting at 7:20 p.m., where they look to finish the sweep.

 D3 Ice Hockey Contact: Ryan Clarkson | 616-745-9420 | rclarkson1@davenport.edu

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