GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Panthers survive and advance to the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference tournament championship game after defeating Madonna University 2-0. Davenport will host Northwestern Ohio on Saturday, November 12^th at the Farmers Insurance Athletic Complex. Davenport won the only game between the two teams earlier in the season with a 2-1 victory in Grand Rapids. The Panthers are 18-1-1 on the year and the Racers are 17-2-1, both teams were 9-1 in conference play during the regular season.
 
The offense struck early for Davenport in the 2^nd minute of play. Juli Knapp lined up a corner kick and played a brilliant ball into the box. Allison Luurtsema sought out the ball and headed it into the back of the net to give DU the early 1-0 lead. This was Luurtsema's sixth goal of the season and four of those have been headers. The first half was lopsided in Davenport's favor as they tallied nine shots compared to Madonna's two. Neither team would score the rest of the first half and Davenport led 1-0 after 45 minutes of play.
 
The Panthers started Shameeka Fishley, Cynthia Konan, Knapp, Nea-Stina Liljedahl, Alayna Hilgendorf, Roheema Bennett, Cassandra Bosworth, Alex Prout, Lacey Chanady and Regan Troff in the second half. Davenport continued their offensive push by adding eight more shots in the second half and totaling nine shots on goal for the game. Sophomore Katherine Steiner added a security goal in the 68^th minute of play. Steiner found herself in the right place at the right time; Fishley launched a shot from 20 yards out, the ball bounced off the keeper's hands and right at Steiner's feet. She tapped it in the net for her seventh goal of the season.
 
Davenport advances to the conference tournament championship game against Northwestern Ohio. Both of these teams have been responsible for winning the last five conference championships. These teams have a lot of history, and this season is no different. They shared the regular season conference championship, and represent eight out of the 14 players on the all conference first team this season. The game will be played next Saturday, November 12^th at the Farmers Insurance Athletic Complex. The time for the game has not yet been determined.