ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Davenport University men's soccer finished their season opener in a 2-2 draw against No. 8 Maryville University in a hard-fought road match that saw the upperclassmen come up big for the Panthers.

After a slower pace from both sides, the box score would ultimately be opened up by the Saints just inside the 21st minute of the match after Maryville's junior midfielder Mason Crew was assisted by junior defender Alberto Di Pierri and sophomore forward Luca Bartoni to take the lead, 1-0, marking that as the only goal scored ('20) in the first 45 minutes.

It would take less than 10 minutes into the second half for the Panthers to strike back as graduate midfielder Eoin Broughan made a cut inside the box that would draw a foul and put DU in a penalty kick situation. In his first year for the Panthers, sophomore forward Vitalis Takawira Jr. took on the challenge of stepping up to the marker and knotted up the scoreline, 1-1, after the swift PK conversion ('53).

However, it would take less than four minutes for the Saints to regain the lead after junior midfielder Caden Tubaugh found an opening and sent a shot into the lower right box ('57) to put the momentum back in Maryville's corner. 

Roughly 15 minutes ensued as multiple Maryville shot attempts just missed the goal until DU was able to respond once more as redshirt senior keeper Bobby Curran sent a kick long down the field that found sophomore forward Andrew Dykstra, who sent a one-touch shot into the net and tied the match, 2-2 ('73). The Panthers obstructed the Saints from capitalizing on home pitch advantage and would finish the match in the resilient draw.

In total, DU had just five shot attempts in the full 90 minutes as Maryville was able to get off 20 shots with 12 of them on goal - 10 of which were saved by Curran. The chippy matchup saw three yellow cards be handed out, with two of them ascribed to the Panthers' graduate defender Nic Baigrie and freshman midfielder Caleb Swartzendruber.

Davenport will wrap up their two-game road trip against the University of Illinois Springfield this Saturday, Sept. 2 with kickoff at 1 p.m. EST (12 p.m. CT).