GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Davenport University women's soccer took full advantage of home pitch in their season opener against Quincy University that finished 5-0 in favor of the Panthers.

A solid offensive game throughout, DU didn't hesitate to open up the box score within the first few minutes of the match with junior forward Haley Diekevers sent a pass to freshman forward Madison Fant and the first-year Panther didn't waste the assist to put the team up 1-0 ('05). 

The true freshman's aggression wouldn't stop there as Fant sent two more shots toward the goal, with the second coming up just short and deflecting off of the far left post. A few more missed opportunities by the Panthers would ultimately see an unassisted goal scored by freshman midfielder Autumn Wakefield ('23) to put all the momentum in DU's favor the remainder of the half that finished 2-0.

DU didn't scale back on the offensive attack to start the second half as a handful two scoring looks by junior midfielder Julia Tamasy were both saved by Quincy's Julia Mincher, and a header opportunity from Diekevers just barely missed and deflected off of the crossbar. 

After junior defender Izabelle Olsson's attempt at the goal, Diekevers drove the ball down once more and sent a ball that found the foot of junior forward Medina Hindic who added DU's third goal of the afternoon ('63) to put DU in full control. Just shy of 16 minutes later, Diekevers would add to the onslaught as a through ball by junior defender Joy VanDam from back in the Panther's territory set up a wide open lane for Diekevers who added to the tally ('78) to make it 4-0.

The scoring didn't stop there, as a visibly frustrated Quincy team would allow a last-second goal off of a corner kick by Tamasy that found junior defender Abi Hearn inside the box ('90) to make the final score 5-0 and propel the Panthers into a statement win at home.

Defensively, senior goalkeeper Gabriana Bennecke finished the shutout win with 90 minutes played in the nets and four goals saved in total as DU out shot the Hawks 14-4 overall.

"I think we responded really well to what we needed to do, what we've worked on over the past three weeks," first-year head coach Joe White said. "We made their life really, really tough and we did some really good things in the attacking third. (We) still have a long way to go and where we want to be in that journey that we're on, but a great start, and you can't argue with a win and a shutout to go with it."

DU will be back on their home pitch this Sunday, Sept. 3 to take on another GLVC opponent in Truman State with kick off at 12 p.m. at Farmers Insurance Athletic Complex.