GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Davenport's D1 Hockey club had last weekend off from any games, which resulted in two intense weeks of practice in preparation for a long three-game weekend. Drexel came into Patterson with knowledge of how tough a road game would be against the Panthers. However, DU was not so welcoming to their guests from Pennsylvania.
 
Thursday, October 5
Final Score: Davenport 13 – Drexel 2
Records: DU (4-0-1) – Drexel (2-1)
 
The pace was set early by Davenport, and that led to an early scoring chance. Alex Hulford made a nice to move to the side of the Dragons' net, fed a perfect pass across to Ian Thompson, who tapped it into the open net with ease to break the ice just over two minutes in. Less than a minute later, Alyx Fonseca received a pass from Wade Weisgerber that sent him on a quick breakaway, and he made no mistake as he beat Dragon netminder Jeremy Wik to give DU a 2-0 lead. Davenport's powerplay went to work just short while after, and Hulford's talent was put on display once again. After getting the puck at the Drexel blueline, he walked in on the defense, put the puck around the defenseman, then sniped one top corner to extend the Panther lead. DU would get one before the end of the first, as Marc Anderson drove in a rebound for his first of the season.
 
With a 4-0 lead heading into the second period, all was looking well for the Panthers, but the Dragons had other plans. After killing off a penalty and creating a couple of scoring chances of their own, Drexel was able to get on the board after Aaron Carmichael slipped one through Tanner Swift to cut Davenport's lead to three. The Panthers were able to get back on track after Weisgerber would fire his into the back of Dragon netto give the Panthers their four-goal cushion once again. A few minutes later, while DU was on the powerplay, Mike Gessler took a shot from the point that hit a Dragon defenseman and floated passed Wik into the net. Gessler's first of the year signaled the end of the night for Wik, as Dillon Gravenstine came in relief. Gravenstine's luck wasn't much better, as he fumbled a Davenport dump-in, and Adam Goudelock forced the puck out in the slot, and Ian Thompson packed it into the open cage to further increase Davenport's lead. Hulford would score another shorthanded goal a few minutes later, after being set up by Tyler Ploeg. Kyle Weller scored a power play goal for the Dragons before the end of the period, but Davenport carried an 8-2 lead after 40 minutes.
 
DU wouldn't let Drexel back in the game in the final frame. Hulford tacked on a power play marker to complete the hat-trick. Keegan Miller would score back-to-back goals, the Austin Thompson would score his seventh goal of the season a few moments later, then Fonseca would cap off the scoring for the night, as the Panthers took home the 13-2 victory.
 
"You know you just can't as for more," Head Coach Phil Sweeney said about his team after the game. "We did a lot of things right today."
Davenport's power play was on par once again as they went five for ten against the Dragons.
Tanner Swift picked up his third win of the season with a 16-save performance.




 
Up Next
The Panthers now get set for back-to-back home games against the Rockets from Toledo. This Toledo's first set of games in Division 1, after moving up from D2 this past year. Their top-5 scorers from last year are all returning to the lineup. Friday night's game will be at 8:35 p.m., and Saturday's game is set for a 6:35 p.m. puck drop.
 
Story by: Tyler Kuehl
 
Picture credit: Tyler Triemstra