GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – After the Thanksgiving Break, the Women's Hockey program came back against one of the top teams in the country, Liberty, for the third time this season. Liberty was coming into Sunday's meeting after defeating Grand Valley State back-to-back nights. Davenport was just looking to hold their own against Liberty, who handled them easily in their previous two meetings.
 
Sunday, December 2
Final Score: Davenport 1 – Liberty 11
Records: #14 DU (2-10), #2 LU (14-1-2)
 
WEATHERING THE STORM
Any indication of a fatigued Flames' club was put to rest as Liberty was able to jump into the lead early. Dana McLeod took a long range wrister that beat a screened Julia Gaynor, just 33 seconds into the game. Less than 30 seconds later, while on the power play, Lauren Mcdonald fired a perfect cross-ice pass to Danica Polson, who one-timed her 15^th goal of the season, to give Liberty a 2-0 lead just over a minute into the game.
 
However, the remainder of the first, Davenport was able to hold the Flames off the board. A mixture of solid defense, and a couple of outstanding saves from Gaynor was what Liberty saw heading into the first intermission. Despite being outshot 23-4, the Panthers only trailed the Flames by a score of 2-0.
 
TURNING UP THE HEAT
Even though Liberty were not able to find the back of the net for the majority of the first, that did not mean they were going to be stopped in the second. Less than a minute into the middle stanza, Mcdonald walked right down the slot and fired one passed Gaynor to extend the Liberty lead. Just a couple minutes later, the Flames would strike again. As DU was trying to break out, Tori Dubuc mishandled the puck, Alex Smibert picked up the puck, found some space, and ripped a shot by Gaynor's glove to give the Flames a 4-0 lead. Alex Paulmert scored just over a minute later after Gaynor could not handle a point shot from Aislyn Stretch, and Liberty was up by five just over five minutes into the second.
 
NOT AT A DISADVANTAGE
Liberty had all the momentum, and then DU went into penalty trouble. However, the Panther penalty kill held the Flames at bay. Even when down 5-on-3, Davenport did their jobs and held off one of the best power plays in the country. The Panthers killed off all five penalties in the second period.
 
Despite the Panthers holding off Liberty while down a player, the Flames continued to amp up the pressure while 5-on-5. Tiana Lisle and Grace Machholz scored just over a minute apart, even though Gaynor made a couple of marvelous stops moments before.
 
The third period saw the Flames tack on a few more marks on the scoreboard. Mcdonald scored her second of the games, followed up CJ Tipping putting home a shorthanded breakaway. Shelby Bradford sniped Gaynor with a bardown shot with just a couple minutes left, and Deena Birney wrapped the scoring for Liberty on the power play with just minutes left. Davenport would get on the board, as Courtney Mulligan scored a breakaway goal in the final minute to break the shutout. The Panthers fell to the Flames for third time this season, 11-1.
 
WHO'S NEXT?
Davenport will head down to Oxford, Ohio take on Miami University for a two-game set next weekend. Miami is ranked #7 in the country, are 9-3-1-1, and coming off a split against #4 Michigan State. In 14 meetings, Davenport has yet to defeat the RedHawks. They came close last season, losing in overtime in one of the two games last November. Friday night's game will be at 10:05 p.m., and Saturday's puck drop set for 1:45 p.m. Both games will take place at Goggin Ice Arena.
 
Story by: Tyler Kuehl
 
Picture credit: Alexis Hoffman