GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – After opening their season in Florida last week, the Davenport women's lacrosse team will start their Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference title defense this weekend as they face Lourdes in their WHAC opener. The opening draw between Davenport and Lourdes is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon at Detroit Country Day School in Beverly Hills, Mich.
 
Vs. Lourdes
Date: Saturday, March 7, 2015
Opening Draw: 4 p.m.
Location: Beverly Hills, Mich. (Detroit Country Day)
Internet Coverage: Live Stats
 
Touring Florida
To start the 2015, the Panthers traveled down to Florida, where they faced a pair of NCAA DII programs in scrimmages, prior to the start of regular season, which was against the Ave Maria Gyrenes. Davenport start their regular season with a 22-1 win over the Gyrenes. Taylor Balch led Davenport with five goals and four assists, while five other Lady Panthers recorded hat tricks in the season opener. Davenport got out to a 13-0 lead after the first half and they continued their strong offensive performance in the second half as they outscored Ave Maria 9-1 in the second half. Sam Powers picked up the win for the Panthers in net.
 
WHAC Opener
Davenport will open their WHAC schedule with Lourdes on Saturday afternoon. The next four games for the Panthers will be against WHAC opponents including two of their next three against Lourdes. The Lady Panthers will have their home opener on March 18th against the Gray Wolves.
 
NWLL Polls
In the first regular season polls, Davenport moved up one spot to second in the nation, while SCAD moved up to number one after defending National Champion, Robert Morris (Ill.) dropped five spots to sixth in the NWLL after a loss to Georgetown (Ky.), who moved into a tie fourth place with Indiana Tech. Lawrence Tech made the biggest jump in the NWLL Polls as they are now ranked third in the country after not being ranked in the top-ten preseason polls. Of the top ten teams in the coaches' polls, the WHAC has four teams in the top eight of the rankings (No. 2 Davenport, No. 3 Lawrence Tech, No. 4 Indiana Tech and No. 8 Aquinas).
 
Defending Their Title
After they return from Florida, the Panthers will open up their title defense in the WHAC as they start their WHAC schedule on March 7th against Lourdes. Last season, Davenport went 8-2 in the WHAC to win the regular season title and they were able to win the WHAC tournament after Siena Heights and Indiana Tech in the conference tournament.
 
 The opening draw for the Panthers WHAC regular season opener against Lourdes is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Saturday at Detroit Country Day in Beverly Hills, Mich.
 
Women's Lacrosse Contact: David Gerhart | 616-554-5045 | dgerhart@davenport.edu
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