GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The weather outside was frightful but a win was so delightful for the Davenport men's soccer team on Saturday afternoon in the NAIA Tournament Opening Round. The second-seeded Panthers improved to 16-2-2 overall with a 3-0 victory over Purdue-Calumet in a driving snow at Meyering Field. The defending national champions have now earned a return trip to Delray Beach, Florida and will play in a round of 16 match on Tuesday, Dec. 1 against the winner of Campbellsville (Ky.)/West Virginia Tech.

The Panthers attacked early and recorded nine corner kicks in the first half. DU broke through in the 11th minute as TJ Ifaturoti scored his 20th goal of the season. Jake Love headed the ball to the foot of Ifaturoti who carried briefly and shot from around 14 yards to the lower right for a 1-0 lead. The Panthers also controlled the tempo as they recorded eight shots in the first half and allowed none.

The Panthers added to their lead in the 45th minute just before halftime. Manny Gorh scored his second of the season from Love as he had a strike to the lower left off the hands of Purdue-Calumet goalkeeper Miguel David from 15 yards. Davenport put it out of reach in the 60th minute as David made the initial save off a shot from Joan Nievas, but the ball went right back to Nievas who scored his sixth of the season. David had to leave the game due to injury after the goal was scored and was replaced by Jonathan Lozano.

"I was very proud of everyone on the team today despite the conditions," said head coach Chris Hughes. "Every single person that was on the field or off came to play. We were focused and did what we could with the amount of snow on the field. We will enjoy this tonight and will go to work on the next opponent tomorrow. Thank you to all the fans that came to watch and huge kudos to the facilities department that worked so hard to get the field as clean as possible."