LIVONIA, Mich. – Dzenan Catic recorded his fifth hat trick of the season and his first in nearly a month, but it was more than enough for Davenport's 10
th-ranked men's soccer team to advance to its second straight Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament championship with a 4-1 win over second-seed Madonna Tuesday afternoon.
Davenport (17-3) will now travel to top seed and 17
th-ranked Northwestern Ohio for the tournament final. Date and time will be announced later. The winner will receive the conference's automatic berth into the NAIA National Championship beginning Nov. 22.
TJ Ifaturoti added the fourth goal along with the two assists he notched on the day.
Jacob Love was also credited with an assist.
Catic, the NAIA's leading scorer with 34 goals and 77 points at the conclusion of the match, got the Panthers on the board with 58 seconds left in the half. Ifaturoti dribbled passed the 18 yard mark and made a pass to Catic on the endline where he bent a cross into the goal.
The Crusaders (14-5-1) quickly evened the score one apiece 1:43 into the second half, but Catic broke the draw in the 59
th minute.
Jacob Love delivered a cross to the junior inside the six-yard box and beat Crusader keeper Marcel Schmid to the left corner.
Ifaturoti added more breathing room for the Panthers in the 71
st. The sophomore dribbled to the top of the 18 and fired to right corner.
In the 80
th minute, Ifaturoti stole the ball from the Crusaders and connected to Catic behind the defense and beat Schmid for a third time.
The Panthers had also quickly erased a tough loss the last time they visited Livonia, when the Crusaders preserved a 1-0 win off a penalty kick over Davenport last month.
Men's Soccer Contact:
Rick Hoskin | 616-554-5045 |
rhoskin@davenport.eduDU Athletics: Twitter |
Facebook |
YouTube |
InstagramMen's Soccer: Facebook
