MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The 2014 season is underway for the men's soccer season and the No. 21 ranked Panthers picked up an impressive 2-0 victory over No. 25 Belhaven (Miss.). Dzenan Catic scored the opening goal and
TJ Ifaturoti followed with one in the second half as Davenport will stay in Alabama where they will meet No. 2 Auburn Montgomery on Monday.
The Capital City Classic features four of the top teams in the country and Davenport proved it belongs in the opener with a 2-0 win over the Blazers from Belhaven.
Alex Ghattas played all 90 minutes in net for head coach
Chris Hughes and the senior finished with three saves.
Coming off a 19-win season in 2013, the men's soccer team put together one of the hardest schedules in the country and the Panthers got tallies from two of their three leading scorers from a year ago in Dzenan Catic and
TJ Ifaturoti.
Catic scored the opening goal in the first half on a ball sent in from fellow junior
Omar Mansah. Catic put the ball by the keeper in the lower left corner and DU went into the half up 1-0. After seeing the Blazers come out more offensive in the second half, DU responded with more offense of their own when
TJ Ifaturoti one-timed a cross from
Collin Mohr to finish the scoring in the 82
nd minute.
Davenport outshot the Blazers 16-12 (7-3 on net) while the Panthers finished with the only three corner kicks of the contest.
DU will turn around on Monday and face the host school and No. 2 ranked Auburn Montgomery at 6:30 p.m. EST.
Post-Match NotesThe win is the first ever over an NAIA Top-25 program in school history for men's soccer...After going 3-3 last year against teams inside the Top-25 or receiving votes section, DU opens the season 1-0…The matchup with AUM on Monday will match the highest ranked opponent DU has faced in school history (Notre Dame – Ohio, 2010)…DU is now 1-0 against Belhaven and brings an 0-2 all-time mark into matchup with AUM
Men's Soccer Contact:
Aaron Sagraves | 616-554-5045 |
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