Box Score Photo Gallery

Site: Grand Rapids, Mich. (Patterson Ice Center)
Score: No. 13 Davenport, Eastern Michigan
Records: DU (16-8-0-1), EMU (12-16-0-1)
Next DU event: Saturday, Jan. 11 – vs. Eastern Michigan – 5:30 p.m.
 
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Davenport D1 hockey team continued their home stand to start the 2014 portion of the season as they faced Eastern Michigan. DU also looked to continue their hot start to the New Year as they are coming in off two wins over Kent State last weekend. The Panthers got out to an early four-goal lead, but the Eagles started to battle back with two goals late in the second period. Dustin Wischmeyer gave DU some insurance to ice the game for the Panthers as Luke McCarthy highlighted the game with two goals and an assist in the 5-2 win. The Panthers will take on Eastern Michigan again on Saturday evening at 5:30 p.m. at Patterson Ice Center.
 
In the first period the Panthers came out strong and set the tempo of the game in the early going, but they could not score until there was 12 minutes left in the period and Kody Polin finally put DU on the board with a goal. Phil Wendecker followed up with a goal of his own to increase the Panther lead to two.
 
Toward the end of the period the Eagles of Eastern Michigan had a couple power play chances including a two-man advantage, but the Panther penalty kill came up huge and Matt Kaludis was a big part of that not only making saves but also shooting the puck out of the zone as DU held a 2-0 heading into the first intermission.
 
DU continued to use the momentum from the first period and brought it into the second period as, Luke McCarthy, who had an assist early in the first period, tallied two goals of his own to ice the Panthers a 4-0 lead. However, the Eagles battled back as they scored two goals in the final five minutes of the period to cut the lead to 4-2 after the second period
 
The final period started with some special teams play as both DU and Eastern Michigan were in the box. However, through all the specials teams play in the early going neither team could find the back of the net. Halfway through the period the score was still 4-2 in favor of DU.
 
Dustin Wischmeyer added a goal with 5:09 left in regulation to give the Panthers some breathing room as the lead was increased to 5-2. Kaludis made kept the puck out of the net in final minutes of the game to seal the 5-2 win for the Panthers.
 
After the game head coach Phil Sweeney talked about what he seen from his team tonight, "We played pretty good offensively we had a lot of good scoring chances, the guys were getting to the net well, and I really like our power play. I though out penalty kill look strong as well, and we just have to run our systems, tighten it up in the defensive zone, but I really like out offensive play today."
 
Sweeney continued to talk about what his is going to look for from his team heading into tomorrow, "We told the guys to start using each other more. We got a little to individualistic down the stretch, especially in the third. We just have to start using one another more, and once we use one another more that is when we are going to be really lethal."
 
DU will play the Eagles again on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. as they closeout a four game home stand at Patterson Ice Center to start the 2014 portion of the season.
 
Post-Game Notes
 
Matt Kaludis got the start in net for the Panthers and made 30 stops in the game to capture his seventh win on the season. Luke McCarthy tallied his first multi-goal game of the season with the two goals in the game. Phil Wendecker scored his first goal since returning to the team this year. Dustin Wischmeyer tallied his second goal in 2014 and Kody Polin has goals in back-to-back games. Finally, Andrew Frank extends his point streak to ten games with an assist tonight.
 
DI Ice Hockey Contact: David Gerhart | 616-554-5045 | dgerhart@davenport.edu
DU Athletics: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram
DI Ice Hockey: Twitter | Facebook