SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – Paige Eli knocked on the door several times and came through in the 73^rd minute and fellow senior Mackenzie VanDerWarf added some breathing room in the 87^th minute to help Davenport's eighth-ranked women's soccer team open Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play with a 2-0 win over Lawrence Tech Saturday afternoon.
 
The defending champion Panthers improve to 7-1-1 overall as they wrap up their season-most five-match road trip at Siena Heights, which jumped into the NAIA Top 25 at No. 25 last Tuesday.
 
Eli did most of the attacking for Davenport, firing nine of the Panthers 20 total shots. She came through midway through the second half with free at the top of the penalty line. Facing a wall of six Blue Devils protecting the right side of the goal, Eli fired to the left side to break the ice.
 
VanDerWarf's only shot on the day turned out to be an insurance goal. She picked up a loose ball, went one-on-one with a Blue Devil defender and her shot from the right side rolled past Lawrence Tech keeper Heather Derstine.
 
Lawrence Tech's (5-4-1, 0-1-0 WHAC) golden opportunity came early in the second half with a breakaway, but Davenport netminder Tara Gessler made a perfectly timed slide to break the rhythm and protect her fourth shutout of the year.
 
Davenport was the only team to have corner kick opportunities, taking eight.
 
Post-Match Notes
Davenport remains undefeated against Lawrence Tech, improving to 3-0-0 in the series…DU has also outscored the Blue Devils in the series 8-0…The Panthers recorded their sixth shutout of the season…Tam Grzybowski and Kilee Lovelace have logged in a lot of minutes the last two matches, clocking up to 200…Davenport improves to 5-3-1 in conference openers and have now been unbeaten in its last five
 
Women's Soccer Contact: Rick Hoskin | 616-871-6180 | rhoskin@davenport.edu
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