CALEDONIA, Mich. - The Davenport men's soccer team improved to 2-0 with a 2-1 win over Northern Michigan on Sunday in their home opener. It was a bright sunny and windy day at Farmers Insurance Athletic Complex, a place where the Panthers hadn't played a home game since October 27, 2019 against Upper Iowa. The team controlled the tempo and pace for a majority of the game and got on the board first in the 10th minute. Evan Marquess was tripped up in the box by a Wildcat defender and DU was awarded a penalty kick. Daire O'Riordan used a good fake move and the keeper dove to his left which allowed O'Riordan to place the ball upper middle for his first goal of the season.

The Wildcats tied it up in the 32nd minute on a play that looked innocent enough at the beginning. Kaffie Kurz was about 35 yards out on the far right wing with a free kick and curved the ball into the box. The Panthers seemed to not communicate who would take the ball and it bounced right into the goal inside the left post on a bounce.

Matt Whelan broke the tie in the 40th minute as he took a free kick from 22 yards out in the middle of the field. He laced a ball that ricocheted off the hands of Alex Weaver and crossed the goal line for his third goal of the season. Neither team would score in the second half despite a few good scoring chances. The Panthers ended with six shots on goal and 18 total shots. Whelan recorded half of the team's shots. Carter Selvius made three saves in goal for DU including a brilliant stop in the closing minutes to keep the lead. DU hosts Purdue Northwest next Sunday for a 2 PM start.