BENSENVILLE, Ill. – After a weekend of resting, the D1 Hockey program hit the road for a pair of tough tests against the Eagles from Robert Morris (Ill.). The Eagles won both meetings last year in overtime. Davenport looked to continue to build on their impressive eight-game win streak against one of the top teams in the country.
 
Friday, October 26
Final Score: Davenport 6 - Robert Morris (Il.) 4
Records: #7 DU (9-0-1), #16 RMU (4-5)
Location: The Edge Ice Arena (Bensenville, Ill.)
 
SETTING THE TONE
For Davenport, this was their first true test of their season, and they wanted to make their presence against the Eagles loud and clear on Friday night. Just over five minutes into the game, while down a man, Ian Thompson would get free after a play from Joey Ogden, and would pot his fifth goal of the season to give Davenport the early lead. The Panthers kept pressing throughout the period, and it led to another goal as Cory Bussing scored his first of the year, and DU led Robert Morris by two after the first period.
 
BOUNCING BACK
The Panthers kept on the attack into the second period. Davenport would have an opportunity on the power play, and the depth scoring DU possesses showed their muscle, as Chris Corgan scored after being setup by Keegan Miller, as Davenport extended their lead to three. Robert Morris, clearly showing signs of being sick of being pushed around in their own barn, started to fight back against the Panthers. Ryan Martin finally put the Eagles on the board with his fourth of the season, followed by a marker from Sam Turner just over 20 seconds apart, which put Robert Morris within one. The Panthers were able to collect themselves, and Walker Aurand added his first of the season with an assist from Chalmers McKeen. The Eagles would score again with just a couple of minutes left in the period to cut the Panther lead again to one. However, before the Eagles could catch their breath, Tyler Layle would score just 45 seconds later to send the Panthers into the second intermission with a 5-3 lead.
 
SEALING THE DEAL
Davenport was cruising into the third period, and Pat Modaff scored only his second goal of his career under five minutes into the final frame to put the Panthers up by three. Martin would score his second of the game for the Eagles to cut the Panther lead back down to two, but it would all be fore naught as Davenport's Jason Rhynold would shut the door on Robert Morris, and took the first game of the weekend by a 6-4 final score.
 
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Layle ended the night with a goal and an assist, and Luke Cowan chipped in with a couple assists of his own. Rhynold picked up his sixth win of the season with a 20 save performance. "[Rhynold] had a couple of huge saves for us," Coach Phil Sweeny stated after the win. "Including a big one early on a major penalty."
 
Saturday October 28
Final Score: Davenport 6 – Robert Morris (Ill.) 5 (OT)
Records: #7 DU (9-0-1), #16 RMU (4-5-1)
Location: The Edge Ice Arena (Bensenville, Ill.)
 
A SLOW START
After a loss on home ice, it was pretty well known that Robert Morris was going to come out with a little more jump in game two of the weekend. Both teams, however, struggled to find the back of the net in the early stages of the contest. It was the Eagles who would be able to find the back of the net first with just a few minutes remaining in the opening period. First, it was Scott Coash scoring his team leading eighth goal of the season to tie the game. With just over two minutes left in the period, Martin would score his third goal of the weekend to give Robert Morris a 2-0 lead.
 
A COUNTER PUNCH
The Panthers knew they needed a spark to get back into the game. That spark was Ian Thompson, who scored his second goal of the weekend with just 27 seconds left in the period to cut the Eagles lead to one.
 
Only down one after 20 minutes, Davenport came out strong in the second period. McKeen would put a shot passed RMU goaltender Chris Mallon to tie the game. Just a few minutes later, the Davenport power play would strike again as Keegan Miller would score his 16^th goal of the season after a nice setup from Tyler Ploeg and Austin Thompson to give DU their first lead of the night. Jake Nitsche would tie the game back up with less than three minutes left in the second. However, once again, Davenport would have a response. Alex Hulford, after a nice play by Cowan, fired home a shot that put Davenport back on top. It looked as if the Panthers would have the lead heading into the third, but a late period goal from Josh Hart tied the game for the Eagles, and it was 4-4 heading into the final 20 minutes.
 
STAYING ALIVE
It was the Eagles who came out flying in the third period, and Sam Turner gave Robert Morris the lead with his fourth of the season. Davenport now needed a goal desperately if they wanted even a chance to sweep the Eagles, and thankfully enough, they had an opportunity to do so on the power play. The top unit for Sweeney's team was sent out on the ice, and they would deliver, as Hulford scored his second of the game to tie the game a five. The two teams battled as the minutes ticked down. Neither team could score before the buzzer sounded, so the two headed into sudden death overtime.
 
Each team a had a couple of chances to end the game early in overtime, but to no avail. Then, Layle and Hulford found a way to send the puck Ian Thompson's way, and he made no mistake scoring the game winning goal, and the Panthers found a way to come away with the sweep over Robert Morris after the 6-5 overtime win.
 
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
While Ian Thompson, Austin Thompson, and McKeen each had two point nights, it was Hulford again who stood with two goals and an assist on the game winning goal. Tanner Swift picked up his fourth win of the season with a 31 save performance in net.
 
WHO'S NEXT
The Panthers don't get much of a break as they're right back on the road against Ohio University next weekend. The Bobcats are currently ranked #3 in the nation, are 7-1, and coming off a week's rest before taking on the Panthers. Ohio won both games last season over DU, and lead the all-time series 5-4. The last time DU defeated the Bobcats was back on December the 13, 2014. Puck drop for both games will be at 7:30 p.m. The Friday-Saturday contests will take place at the Bird Arena in Athens, Ohio.
 
Story by: Tyler Kuehl
 
Picture credit: Alexis Hoffman