CALEDONIA, Mich. - The Davenport men's soccer team had a chance to pull even in the GLIAC standings with Saginaw Valley State on Friday night. The Panthers trailed the Cardinals by three points in the standings, but could not find a way to score in a 2-0 loss to the 18th-ranked team in NCAA Division II. Saginaw Valley State and Northwood with their win against Tiffin each have 25 points and are tied atop the conference. Davenport sits in third with 19 points and can't win or share the conference title with tonight's loss. The Panthers will end the regular season next Friday (Oct. 27) at home against Purdue Northwest and then play in the GLIAC Tournament which starts Oct. 31.

DU (9-5-1, 6-4-1) just simply did not have the same quality scoring chances as SVSU (11-2-1, 8-1-1) during the match. Senior goalkeeper Aaron Orban had his best match of the season making several great saves. Azaad Liadi had the first chance in the 14th minute but Orban got his fingertips on a shot just before it was about to go below the crossbar to keep it scoreless. He then made another nice save off a header by Michael Hamilton off a corner kick a minute later.

The second half showed why the Cardinals are among the best in the country as they continued to put pressure on Davenport's defense. Omar Sinclair rifled a free kick about a foot wide right in the 47th minute. Liadi had a chance to break the scoreless tie in the 60th minute, but Orban came about 15 yards out and blocked a shot which looked at one point to be a sure goal.

The Panthers took a yellow card deep in their own end and a sequence followed where SVSU scored on an own goal off a DU defender. Alex Gloshen put the ball into the box from the far left wing in the 63rd minute and swung momentum to the visitors. The Panthers had their best chance to tie it in the 76th minute as Daire O'Riordan struck the ball into a crowd and SVSU keeper Connor Keane made a diving stop to his right. The Cardinals got the second goal with 29 seconds left as DU pushed up to generate late offense. Alberto Teatin scored his first of the season from Hamilton as he trailed the play and beat Orban to the lower left from 10 yards.

SVSU finished with nine shots on goal compared to four for the Panthers. Orban made seven saves to keep his team close. The second half total shots were 9-3 in favor of the Cardinals.