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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The No. 2 seeded Davenport Panthers advanced to the GLCHL Tournament semifinals after picking up a 5-2 win over the No. 7 seed Kent State on Friday night at Patterson Ice Center. DU, now 27-9-0-1 on the year, will face arch-rival Oakland in Saturday's 8pm matchup after the Golden Grizzlies defeated Western Michigan 7-3. Top-seeded Adrian will face Eastern Michigan (a 3-1 winner over UM-Dearborn) in the other semifinal.

The opening period was a strong one on the ice for Davenport but only one goal was put up on the scoreboard when Robert Kleiman picked up the game's first goal with 2:46 remaining in a four on four situation. The goal came just seconds after back to back power play's for the Panthers after a 4:00 penalty on the Golden Flashes.

Davenport added to their lead in the second when they poured in three goals from three different players including the second of the night from Kleiman. Just 2:12 into the period, Michael Bishop scored from Phil Wendecker and then Kleiman added a 4v4 goal just seven minutes later. The scoring was finished by Tyler Quigley on a power play goal with Wendecker and Kleiman picking up the helpers.

A power play goal by Kent State just 1:44 into the third and then an even strength tally by the Golden Flashes just 1:13 later had the margin down to just two at 4-2, but Davenport put a stop to the rally and picked up an empty net goal from Mason Bohlinger to pick up the 5-2 win.

The win sends Davenport into Saturday's semifinals where they will meet the No. 3 seed Oakland. The game will follow the Adrian-Eastern Michigan contest that is scheduled for a 6:00 drop of the puck.
 
Post-Game Notes

Davenport has defeated Kent State in all five matchups this season by a combined score of 35-6...DU advances to their third straight GLCHL semifinals where they will face rival Oakland for the second in three years…The game with Oakland will not be a part of the Good Luck Duck Series as game five will take play Friday, February 22 at Patterson at 8:30pm