GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The ACHA Division I Game of the Week lived up to its billing as third-ranked Davenport (8-0) defeated fifth-ranked Adrian (8-1) 5-4 at Patterson Ice Center on Friday night in front of a packed house over 1,000 fans. The two national powerhouses slugged it out for 60 minutes and it came down to the final seconds.

The Panthers did a great job on the penalty kill as Adrian scored once on six chances. Davenport did well on their power play scoring twice on three chances. The Bulldogs got on the board first at 7:18 of the first as Nick Goettel scored on a backdoor pass and shot top right inside the right circle. Adrian scored one second after a penalty expired to Adam Goudelock as the fifth skater could not get back into the play in time. Davenport answered 1:01 later as Wade Weisgerber got the goal from Chris Eckler and Tyler Ploeg as Weisgerber knocked in a rebound off the Eckler shot.

Adrian came right back just 1:34 later to regain the lead as C.J. Nicholson took a feed behind the net and shot under the left arm with assists from Chris Derochie and Brad Kobryn. The Panthers did outshoot Adrian 18-14 in the first but trailed by a goal after 20 minutes.

Alyx Fonseca took a penalty at the horn of the first but DU killed it off and got their second goal at 2:23 of the second as Louie Abounader tipped-in a rocket off the stick of Mike Gessler. Davenport used their timeout during a 4-on-3 midway through the period and then took the lead at 3-2 as Everett Thompson notched the power play goal from Ian Thompson and Weisgerber at 11:48. Adrian tied the game on the power play at 15:29 just 11 seconds into the man advantage after a contact to the head penalty by Fonseca. Marcus Rose cut to the net and Kobryn feed him the puck before Rose shot lower left from the left circle. Derochie had the second assist on the goal.

Justin Fisher took a slashing minor on the ensuing faceoff which allowed DU to take a 4-3 lead at 16:46. Kody Polin carried the puck above the circles and ripped a shot upper left corner through a screen as Gessler and Fonseca had the assists. The second was more defensive as Davenport had nine shots while Adrian had eight.

Michael Lozicki gave the home team a 5-3 lead at 3:54 of the third as Ploeg and Gessler had the assists. Lozicki pushed the puck over the goal line on a scramble in front for the two-goal lead. Adrian answered to get within one at 5:21 as Kobryn scored the goal on a quick trigger off a faceoff win by Derochie. Josh Hosking got the pass to Kobryn who finished the play.

Polin took a penalty at 9:55 for hooking which was killed by the Panthers and then the defense kicked in down the stretch. Adrian called a timeout at 18:19 on a faceoff in DU's zone and pulled goaltender Matt Schnoes. Adrian had the tying goal waived off at 18:50 as the net came off the posts. The Panthers iced the puck at 19:45 to setup one final flurry which Davenport stopped for the big victory. Jason Rhynold stepped up big as a freshman in net for Davenport making several big saves in the third.