GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – After an opening night loss, the D1 Hockey team has flown through the past couple of weeks, winning six games in a row before going up against the Stallions from Western Michigan in a pair of games this weekend. With an offensively-minded team like the Panthers, they would once again show their muscle against their GLCHL opponent.
 
Thursday, October 11
Final Score: Davenport 9 – Western Michigan 3
Records: DU (7-0-1), WMU (3-1)
 
CASHING IN
The two teams battled hard throughout the first period, neither team able to get on the board. However, that was about to change after the Broncos took a penalty just before the halfway mark of the opening frame. DU's superb power play took to the ice and, after a setup from Chris Corgan and Alyx Fonseca, Joey Ogden put in his sixth of the season to break the deadlock.
 
DOMINATING BOTH ENDS
Davenport looked to pull away from the Stallions in the second period. Defensively, they were able to hold Western off the scoreboard, and filled a few more of their own names on the scoresheet. It all started when Keegan Miller scored off a pass from Tyler Ploeg to put the Panthers up by two. Alex Hulford scored just a few minutes later to further extend the DU lead. Davenport kept upping the pressure on the Stallions, as Miller would score his second goal of the period, and the scoring for the period would round out with Austin Thompson scoring from Adam Goudelock with just over two minutes left. Davenport carried a 5-0 lead into the second intermission.
 
WILD THIRD
Looking to try and get something going on home ice, Western came out with a pep in their step in the final period. Zachary Roberts finally put the Stallions on the board less than a minute into the period. However, DU would respond just a few minutes later, as Hulford would fire in his second of the game, 13^th of the season, to put the Panthers back up by five. Miller would wrap up his outstanding performance with back-to-back goals to give Davenport a 7-1 lead just over seven minutes into the third. The teams traded goals for the rest of the period, as Roberts and Patrick Nicholson scored for Western, and A. Thompson scored his second of the game, and Davenport reeled off their seventh win in a row by a score of 9-3.
 
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
On top of his four goals, Miller also tacked on an assist, giving him five points on the night. A. Thompson also had five points for DU, and Jason Rhynold picked up his fourth win in net.
 
Saturday, October 13
Final Score: Davenport 6 – Western Michigan 0
Records: DU (8-0-1), WMU (3-2)
 
TAKING ADVANTAGE
Similar to the game Thursday night, neither team could get anything going offensively in the early stages of the contest. That was, until Miller jumped on a loose puck and tapped one past the Western goaltender Alex Hufford to give Davenport the 1-0 lead. Davenport would have a 5-on-3 with under five minutes left in the period, and the lethal Panther power play would not disappoint. Miller brought the puck down into the corner and fed a perfect pass to Hulford in front, who fired the one-timer top corner to put DU up by two. Less than half a minute later, while still with the man advantage, Miller made a magnificent move, turning a Stallion defenseman inside out, and tucked one under the crossbar and in for his second of the period, and Davenport went into the first intermission with a 3-0 lead.
 
In the second period Justin Thayer replaced Hufford in net for the Stallions, and immediately was forced to make a couple of tough saves from the Panther offense. However, the Panthers were able to break through. After wonderful puck protection from Thompson, he fed a pass to Ploeg who, after fumbling with the puck, slipped a shot through the pads of Thayer to put Davenport up by four. Just a couple minutes later, Hulford would receive a penalty shot. Hulford tried to outwait Thayer, but the Stallion netminder was just too patient for Hulford, and made a blocker save to try and keep his team in the game.
 
BIG STOP
After Ogden took a double-minor penalty, and Cory Bussing joining him a couple minutes later, Davenport was tasked with killing off a 5-on-3 of their for almost two minutes. The Davenport defense came up huge, getting sticks in the passing lanes and blocking shots. Goaltender Rhynold made a couple big stops of his own, and Davenport would come away from the penalties unscathed, and carried a 4-0 lead into the third period.
 
Head Coach Phil Sweeney credits his assistant Bill McSween for the team's outstanding penalty kill. "I kind of just let [Bill] take over the PK, you have to have trust in your assistant coaches. The team did a great job out there, and it's all credit to Billy."
 
Davenport would kill off three more penalties in the third, forcing Western to go 0-8 with the man advantage. Hulford would tap in his second of the game early in the third, and would send a beautiful breakaway pass to Thompson who scored DU's third power play goal of the game, and the Panthers would skate away with the 6-0 victory.
 
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Mike Gessler chipped in from the back end with three assists in the game. Rhynold picked up win number five with a 25 save shutout. The Miller-Hulford-Thompson line combined for ten points in the victory on Saturday night. "They're just electric," Coach Sweeney stated postgame. "Whenever they're on the ice they're a threat, it's fun to watch."
 
WHO'S NEXT?
Davenport takes a week off before going on the road back-to-back weekends against two real tough opponents. They will first take on ninth-ranked Robert Morris (Ill.) on October 26 and 27. The Eagles swept the Panthers last season with a pair of overtime victories last December. Davenport will then travel down to Athens, Ohio to take on the #4 Ohio Bobcats. Ohio also swept Davenport a year ago, outscoring the Panthers 11-4. Those games will take place on November 2 and 3.




 
Story by: Tyler Kuehl
 
Picture credit: Alexis Hoffman