CALEDONIA, Mich. - In the 68th minute of a scoreless affair with Saginaw Valley State, Davenport's Madeleine Zayan dished it back to Alexis Cook who fired from 20 yards out and found the back right corner of the net. Cook's first career goal gave the Panthers the lead for good and a 2020-21 Senior Day victory.

"It's fantastic to get a win on our home field this afternoon," said head coach, Paige Eli. "The last two weeks have been focused on having better quality in possession and it was great to see some of those moments show in today's game. We knew Saginaw would make it a tough battle for 90 minutes, but our ladies did a great job of controlling momentum today! I'm very proud of the overall performance today for the team and it's great to get a win on Senior Day!"

The 1-0 effort marked the Panthers' first shutout victory since their Senior Day in 2019 when they defeated Northwood, also by a score of 1-0. Not only making her first career start, but first ever appearance in goal was freshman keeper, Gabriana Bennecke. Bennecke faced two shots, saved both and became the first player other than Samantha Beckles to appear in goal for the Panthers since the fall of 2018.

Zayan notched the assist, her third of the season after having just two in her first three seasons combined. Her and fellow seniors Marissa Woods, Ashlyn Skidmore and Krystina Dunston were recognized prior to opening kickoff against the Cardinals.

Offensively for Davenport, six of its 13 shots came from Zayan, four of which were on goal, while the other seven belonged to Natalia Casiello (2 shots, 1 SOG), Aida Holihan (1 shot), Ajaysia Hacker (1 shot), Skidmore (1 shot, 1 SOG), Kandis Orns (1 shot, 1 SOG), and Cook.

Next up on the schedule for the Panthers is their regular season finale on Sunday against Ashland with the opening kickoff set for 11 a.m. at The Farm.

Story by: Cooper Weidenthaler