GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Panthers and Golden Bears fought a close battle during a breezy and chilly afternoon at the DU Turf Field. The first half of action was thrilling to watch, despite the low scores. The two teams were up and down the field and the Golden Bears held a 6-4 lead at the break. Davenport cut the lead down to a one-goal lead multiple times in the second half, but could not get over that hump to tie or take the lead. The Panthers are still looking for their first GLIAC victory of the season.

The Basics
Final Score: Davenport University-8 | Concordia University St. Paul-13
Location: Grand Rapids, Mich.
Record: DU (2-5, 0-3) | CSP (5-3, 2-2)

Goals Per Period
First period: DU-4 | CSP-6
Second period: DU-4 | CSP-7

How It Happened
Davenport scored the initial goal of the game. Ryann Deuel scored her 21^st goal of the season off a pass from Taylor Ries. The Golden Bears responded exactly one minute later to tie the game 1-1. Concordia St. Paul rallied off two more goals to take a 3-1 lead just under six minutes into the game. Davenport scored three of the next four goals to tie the game 4-4 with 11:41 remaining in the period. Ries or Deuel scored all four goals in the period for the Panthers.

The Golden Bears scored the first goal of the second half to take a 7-4 lead. Only 54 seconds later Ries scored her 18^th goal of the season, assisted by Deuel, to make it a 7-5 game. A beautiful solo effort by Kaili Gozalka cut the Golden Bears lead down to one goal with 18:50 left in regulation. Concordia St. Paul scored in the 12^th minute as well to make it an 8-6 game. Brenna Knoll got in on the scoring action for a quick goal after Deuel earned the draw control to cut the lead down to 8-7. The Golden Bears notched four consecutive goals to take a five-goal lead with exactly seven minutes to play. A late goal by Deuel wasn't enough to complete the second half comeback.

Inside The Box
Deuel (4 G, 1 A, 5 P, 2 GB, 3 DC)
Ries (2 G, 3 A)
Maeve Sweeney (3 GB, 2 CT)
Gozalka (1 G, 2 GB, 1 CT)
Amber Park (2 GB, 2 CT)
Aaliyah Miller (2 GB, 1 CT, 5 DC)
Brenna Knoll (1 G, 1 A, 1 CT, 3 DC)
Alex Yates (60:00 minutes, 13 GA, 7 saves, 2 ground balls)

Up Next
The Panthers get another opportunity for their first-ever conference win on Saturday, March 31. Davenport welcomes the Wildcats of Northern Michigan for a game at 12 p.m.

Story by: Devin Steiner

Photo Credit: Tyler Triemstra