GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Davenport kicked off their conference play this weekend against cross-state foe Eastern Michigan. The Panthers offense was impressive last weekend against Illinois State, and they continued their pressure against the Eagles.
 
Friday, September 21
Final Score: Davenport 7 – Eastern Michigan 2
Records: DU (3-0), EMU (0-2)
 
The first period did not see a whole lot of action, but that changed with five minutes left in the first, when Joey Ogden put away his second goal of the season to open the scoring. With under a minute in the period, and on the powerplay, Alex Hulford scored his third of the season on a setup from Austin Thompson and Luke Cowan to put Davenport up two heading into the break.
 
The Eagles came out flying in the second, as Hunter Soden scored 12 seconds into the period to cut the Panthers' lead in half. Davenport would respond later in the period, though, as A. Thompson continued his hot start with his fifth goal of the season from Ian Thompson and Hulford. DU went on the powerplay right after the goal, and they would find a way to convert once again. Keegan Miller scored his first as a Panther on a beautiful tic-tac-toe play from Cowan and Hulford to give Davenport a 4-1 lead after 40 minutes.
 
Once again, Eastern Michigan started the period off strong, and Austin Turner scored just over a minute in to make it a 4-2 game. However, the Eagles would get into more penalty trouble, and Alyx Fonseca would tip in a Tyler Ploeg point shot for his second of the season to put the Panthers back up by four. Sam Basich also assisted on the powerplay goal. A. Thompson would score on another DU powerplay for his second of the game, and Ogden would cap the night off with his second of the game as the Panthers would improve to 3-0 after defeating Eastern Michigan by a score of 7-2.
 
Davenport's powerplay went 5-8 on the night. Hulford led all Panthers with five points. Tanner Swift earned his second win of the season, stopping 17 of 19 shots.
 
Saturday September 22
Final Score: Davenport 10 – Eastern Michigan 3
Records: DU (4-0), EMU (0-3)
 
The Panthers' offense was flying early in their home opener. However, their defense was even more impressive as they didn't allow an Eagle shot for the first 10 minutes of the game. DU was able to strike first as A. Thompson ripped in his seventh of the season to get the Panthers out in front early. Just a few minutes later, A. Thompson led a 3 on 2 break for DU, feathered a pass into the high slot to Adam Goudelock who buried his first of the year, and put the Panthers up by two heading into the first intermission.
 
The Panthers had a powerplay in the second that carried over from the first, and used the fresh sheet of ice to their advantage, as Miller scored on a set up from Tyler Layle to extend the Panther lead to three. The Eagles, though, would come storming back. Less than 30 seconds after Miller's goal, Blake Berenson tapped in a rebound off the pad of Jason Rhynold to cut the Davenport lead to two. A few minutes later, the Eagles were able to convert off a DU turnover, as Dylan Naumovski feathered in a wrister top corner to put Eastern within one. It was crunch time for DU. Head Coach Phil Sweeney called a timeout to reinvigorate his troops, and the messaged was received loud and clear. Shortly after the timeout, Miller pounced on a loose puck and fired a pass to Cowan, who redirected it past Eagles' goaltender Sean Angle, as the Panthers regained their two goal lead. While the Panthers were shorthanded, Hulford found a loose puck that was created by a check from Goudelock, walked down the wing and snuck a shot through Angle to put the Panthers up by three for the second time in the game. However, Davenport got into more penalty trouble, and while down 5-on-3, Naumovski sniped his second of the game to make it a 5-3 game after two periods of play.
 
With Eastern containing all the momentum, Davenport once again had to respond. It didn't take long as Hulford stole a pass from Naumovski, leading to a shorthanded breakaway goal for the Stittsville, Ontario native, as the Panthers went up by three once again. From then on, Davenport did not let the Eagles back in the game. After Miller scored his second of the game, Ogden and Ploeg added two more shorthanded goals. Chris Corgan sealed the deal with his first of the season late in the game, as Davenport completed the weekend sweep, defeating the Eagles 10-3.
 
Davenport killed 10 of 11 penalties, and scored four shorthanded goals in the process. Rhynold picked up his first win of the year.
 
"I really liked our penalty kill," Coach Sweeney stated postgame. "Anytime you score [shorthanded] it helps."
 
The Panthers will have a week off, before a three game homestand starting Thursday, October 4 against Drexel University. That will be followed with back-to-back games against the Toledo Rockets Friday and Saturday.


 
Story by: Tyler Kuehl
 
Picture credit: Tyler Triemstra