Box Score Site: Rochester, Mich. (Onyx Ice Arena)
Score: No. 12 Davenport 5, No. 14 Oakland 1
Records: DU (25-10-0-3), OU (22-16-0-0)
Next DU event: Saturday, Feb. 22 – vs. Adrian – GLCHL Tournament Finals – 2 p.m.
 
ROCHESTER, Mich. – The D1 hockey team took on Oakland for the fifth time this season in the GLCHL tournament semifinals and the Panthers looked to beat Oakland for the first time this season. Robert Kleiman led DU with two goals, as the Panthers were able to beat to beat the Grizzlies 5-1. Davenport is now 25-10-0-3 on the season, and they will take on No. 6 Adrian in the GLCHL tournament final looking to defend their tournament title. The puck drop is at 2 p.m. at the Onyx Ice Arena in Rochester, Mich.
 
To open the game DU looked to beat Oakland for the first time this season, and the Panthers came out with a charge as Phil Wendecker blasted a shot from the point on the power play and Robert Kleiman jammed it into the net to give DU the early the 1-0 lead. Just a few moments later the Panthers increased their lead to two, as Andrew Frank fired a shot from an odd angle it found the back of the net to give DU a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
 
The Panthers started the second period the same way they started the first period with an early goal to set the tone for the period. Josh Munford was able to sneak down the right wing and he threw the puck to the front of the net and Kleiman put into the back of the net to give DU a 3-0 lead early in the second period and scored his second goal of the game.
 
DU had another power play chance in the final minutes of the period, and Luke McCarthy was able to fire the puck pas the Oakland net minder to increase the Panther lead to four goals. Davenport was able to kill off an Oakland power play to hold a 4-0 lead after the second period.
 
In the third period, the Panthers killed off the remaining time on a carry over five minute major penalty to keep the game at 4-0. Davenport continued to dominate play in the late portion of the period, but Oakland was able sneak a power play goal past Phil Graveline to make it a 4-1 game. Wendecker added his second goal of the game to ice the game for the Panthers as Kody Polin found him on two on one, and Phil Wendecker was able to make a couple moves to score as DU closed out the game with a 5-1 win.
 
After the game, head coach Phil Sweeney talked about his team's performance tonight, "the guys played great tonight. We played physical, fast and structured hockey. I am very impressed how we played as a team and we need to continue playing like this. We are going to be a very difficult team to beat if we play that kind of hockey. We are moving onto the championship tomorrow and will be a lot of fun, two very good teams battling for the league championship."
 
The Panthers will face No. 6 Adrian in the GLCHL final tomorrow at 2 p.m. at the Onyx Ice Arena in Rochester, Mich. Davenport will look to defend their GLCHL Conference Tournament crown they won last season against Adrian.
 
Post-Game Notes
 
The Panthers will face Adrian in the conference championship game for the second straight season. Phil Graveline picked up the win in net as the Panthers are now 25-10-0-3 on the season. Robert Kleiman tallied two goals and has is second consecutive multi-point game.
 
DI Ice Hockey Contact: David Gerhart | 616-554-5045 | dgerhart@davenport.edu
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