Box Score

BLACKSBURG, VA. – The Panthers came out flat in the first half and found themselves trailing 7-3 at the half before completing a dominating comeback. Davenport shut out Virginia Tech 3-0 in the third and outscored the Hokies 7-1 in the fourth. Lyle Parks led the Panthers comeback with three goals in the fourth quarter.

In the first half the Panthers came out slow and didn't match the energy of the Hokies. “We came out to loose and weren't ready to go. Virginia tech came out hard and we played soft on offense and defsene.  Defensively we weren't pressuring the ball and on offense we kept turning the ball over.” Commented head coach Chris Gervat.

The Hokies came out firing on all cylinders and scored four goals in the first five minutes of play. Davenport stopped the run with 6:35 left in the opening quarter with a goal by Daniel Hume. The Panthers were only able to manage two shots on goal while the Hokies had seven.

The Panthers struggles continued in the second quarter. Virginia Tech built their largest lead of the game at 7-2with 1:30 left in the first half after scoring a man up goal. Davenport went into the half on a positive note when Jordan Richtsmeier found Nick Covert in front of the net for a goal with three seconds left in the half.

The second half comeback started with a strong third quarter. The Panthers slowed down their offense and possessed the ball well. Nicholas Henderson scored the first goal of the half nine minutes into the quarter to pull with three at 7-4. The Panthers really started to gain momentum with 41 seconds left when Hume received a pass from Dominic Boggiano and quickly fired an around the back shot past the Hokies goalie.

Following Hume's highlight goal Nathaniel Adkins came up with a big face off win to give the Panthers the last possession of the third. Davenport worked the ball around to Richtsmeier who found Henderson cutting in front of the net for a goal with one second remaining.

In the second half Gervat told his team that “our best defense is our offense” and that held true at the start of the fourth. Adkins, who went 8-12 on face offs in the second half, won three straight face offs to start the fourth. Thanks to those face off wins the Panthers were able to score three goals in three minutes before the Hokies even attempted a shot.

Davenport's offense exploded for seven goals in the final stanza. Lyle Parks led the way with three goals while Richtsmeier added two, and Cody Cross and Adkins each added one. The lone goal in the second half for the Hokies came on a two man advantage with 4:40 remaining.

Davenport will finish the road trip on Sunday against Clemson at 12:00 pm.

Post-Game Quotes Chris Gervat

“Nate did a great job on face offs in the second half and the helped us get possession, our offense started slowing down and clicking and our defense didn't see the ball much.  The best defense you can have is a better offense and that's what we had the second half. “

Post-Game Notes
Davenport Outscored Virginia Tech 10-1 in the second half…After trailing 7-2 late in the second quarter the Panthers outscored the Hokies 11-2…DU had 17 shots on goal in the second half compared to 6 for VT.