BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The D1 hockey team traveled to central Illinois for an early start this season. Phil Sweeney's club took on the Redbirds of Illinois State. Davenport fell out of the National Tournament last year in the quarterfinals. Illinois State is coming off a mediocre season, going 12-8-1-2 a year ago. Davenport's offense was displayed in full force this weekend. Despite the onslaught of chances in the Redbird zone, DU was only able to come away with one win on the weekend.
 
Friday, September 14th
Final Score: Davenport 3 - Illinois State 4 (SO)
Location: Grossinger Arena, Bloomington, IL
 
The Panthers looked to start the season on the right note and at the 6:47 mark of the opening period, Alex Hulford scored on a beautiful pass from Wade Weisgerber to put the Panthers up early. With just over a minute left in the first, Austin Thompson sniped one passed Redbird goaltender Marc Hayton to put the Panthers up two after 20 minutes.
 
In the second period, the Panthers continued to fire shots on the Redbird net, but just over five minutes in, the Redbirds got on the board after Micah Young made a great move around a diving Jason Rhynold to cut the DU lead in half. With just under three minutes remaining in the period, Illinois State's Cody Schwartz tapped in a point blank chance to tie the game. Davenport was still dominating the play though, outshooting the Redbirds at almost a 3-1 margin. "Funny how this game works," Sweeney said post-game. "We had a lot of neutral zone turnovers, and they were able to take advantage of them."
 
The Redbirds came out flying in the final frame, and it paid off. Just over a minute in, Adam Howey ripped one passed Rhynold to give Illinois State their first lead of the night. Despite being down, DU kept on pressing and peppering Hayton every chance they got. They finally broke through on the power play, as Austin Thompson sniped home his second of the game on a one-timer to tie the game with just under five minutes to play. The clock would wind down on the third, and overtime solved nothing, so the two teams went to a shootout. The Panthers dominated shots on goal throughout the night, ending with 75 shots to the Redbirds 25.
 
Neither team was able to score in the first two rounds, but in the third round, Cody Schwartz was able to beat Rhynold, and give the Redbirds the victory.
 
Saturday, September 15th
Final Score: Davenport 7 - Illinois State 2
Location: Grossinger Arena, Bloomington, IL
 
Davenport was looking to come out strong and avenge the heartbreaking loss from the night before. Alyx Fonseca put the Panthers on the board early in the game. In the second period, the Panthers offense continued to control the game like they had all weekend, and they were finally rewarded. Alex Hulford scored his second of the season from Chris Corgan. That was followed up by Austin Thompson's third of the season coming off a play from Ian Thompson. Davenport didn't let up as Joey Ogden put the Panthers up by four with assists coming from Luke Cowan and Hulford. Davenport ended the period with Thompson's second of the game on the power play, and Weisgerber tallying his second point of the weekend.
 
"We were much more efficient," Sweeney chuckled about the Panthers scoring brigade in the middle frame.
The Redbirds' two goals came in the third period, and Ian Thompson capped off the afternoon with an unassisted marker, as the Panthers earned their first win of the season by a final score of 7-2.
 
Sweeney was pleased with his team's play, both on the penalty kill and the man advantage. "Our special teams, especially our power play this weekend, was really good."
 
Tanner Swift was credited with the win in net, while Jon Strand came in for the third to finish off the game for DU.
 
The Panthers will begin GLCHL play next weekend as they have a home-and-home series against Eastern Michigan. Friday night's contest will be at 7 p.m. puck drop at the Ice Cube in Ann Arbor. Davenport's home-opener will be Saturday afternoon against the Eagles, with puck drop set for 3:35 p.m.
 
Story by: Tyler Kuehl
 
Picture credit: Tyler Triemstra