Written by Tyler Kuehl
 
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The D2 hockey team started their final weekend set of 2019 on Friday night. They were looking to bounce back after a pair of losses to Lindenwood from the previous weekend when they took on Purdue-Northwest for the first time ever.
 
The Panthers were all over the Pride from the get-go, out-chancing and outshooting the Pride for the entire 60 minutes. Players who had not played big minutes were at the forefront of the attack early on for DU, and it paid off. Five goals in the first period, followed by four in the second helped send DU to their first win in almost a month.
 
QUICK STATS
 
Final Score: Davenport 11 – Purdue-NW 1
Shots: DU 76 | PNW 7
Power Play: DU (3/8) | PNW (1/2)
Records: #10 DU (9-8-2-1) | (1-19-1)
 
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
 
Spencer Sandberg and Jeff Rahilly led the Panthers with two goals and two assists each, followed by three goals from Jacob Demeter and three from Tyler Jaenicke. Evan Carroll and Connor Seymour each had two goals and an assist, while Harry Newton scored his first two goals of the season.
 
While he did not have a whole lot of work in net, Brenden Bogema still picked up his first collegiate win between the pipes.
 
MONKEY OFF THE BACK
 
Davenport came out flying in the first period, putting 23 shots on goal. The scoring started off just before the three-minute mark of the period as Demeter scored his eighth of the season. A few minutes later, Newton found room down the left-wing side, and fired a shot over the glove of the Pride's Kyle Fritz for his first of the season to put DU up by two. Rahilly scored back-to back goals a little over five minutes apart to make it a 4-0 lead for DU. Newton would tip a pass from Spencer Anderson with four minutes remaining in the period to send the Panthers to the intermission with a five-goal lead.
 
CONTINUOUS PRESSURE
 
The second period was just like the first, as Davenport kept the pressure on in the Pride zone. Seymour scored on a one-timer less than a minute into the period, with Sandberg tucking his sixth of the season just 14 seconds later to put DU up by six.
 
Seymour set up Carroll just a few minutes later before Demeter scored his second of the game later in the period. Davenport amassed 28 shots in that period, and carried a 9-0 lead into the final frame.
 
The Pride would break the shutout with Connor Hunterser's first collegiate goal on the power play.
 
Sandberg potted his second before Demeter capped off the night by completing his hat-trick, and Davenport would get their ninth win of the season by a final score of 11-1.
 
WHO'S NEXT?
 
The Panthers play their final game of the semester against the Pride Saturday afternoon with a 3:20 p.m. puck drop at Patterson.