DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – Dzenan Catic recorded his sixth hat trick of the season – his 11^th multi-goal of the year – and Aaron Orban made seven brilliant saves to shut out a physically aggressive Marymount (Calif.) 3-0 and send the No. 7 Davenport men's soccer team to its first ever appearance in the NAIA National Championship Friday night.
 
The Panthers (21-3-1) will meet No. 2 and undefeated Texas at Brownsville for the crown Saturday at 4 p.m. from Hilltopper Stadium. The Ocelots improved to 23-0-0 after coming off a 3-1 win over Northwestern Ohio earlier in the day.
 
It will also be the third appearance Davenport University is competing in an NAIA National Championship. The women's basketball team reached in 2011 and 2013.
 
Davenport jumped on the board 5:15 into the contest when Lito Esquivel made a pass back to Catic at the top of the box and the junior made one touch shot into the goal. In the 22^nd minute, Jacob Love dribbled down the left side before cross to Tyler Fischer in the middle of the box. The senior made a one-touch pass back to Catic for the shot to put the Panthers ahead 2-0.
 
Catic had a breakaway for a hat trick but Mariner keeper Clark Lydon made a brilliant one-hand save to prevent the goal. Panther keeper Aaron Orban returned the favor with four minutes left in the half when he made a perfectly timed diving save to the right side to stop a header from going into the goal.
 
A costly mistake by Lydon knocking down TJ Ifatoroti set up a penalty kick for the Panthers. Catic's shot hit the crossbar and bounced on the line but the referee ruled it a goal.
 
Orban, who now owns the school's single-season record with 10 shutouts, made six of the seven saves in the second half.
 
The Mariners (17-5-1) outshot the Panthers 18-7 overall but each team had seven shots on goal. Marymount also had more corner kick opportunities than Davenport (14-3).
 
Prior to the match, the NAIA had announced the Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes. Representing Davenport are Catic and Kyler Jacobs. In order to be nominated by an institution's head coach or sports information director, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and must have achieved a junior academic status.
 
Men's Soccer Contact: Rick Hoskin | 616-554-5045 | rhoskin@davenport.edu
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