Women's Ice Hockey | 10/6/2018 5:01:00 PM

CHELSEA, Mich. – After a strong weekend in the Upper Peninsula, the women's hockey team traveled over to the east side of the state to take on the Cardinals of Concordia University. Davenport's offense was rather quiet last week as they were able to squeak out two wins against Sault College, but Head Coach Jerre Coretti's troops brought in the heavy artillery Friday night.
 
Friday, October 5
Final Score: Davenport 8 – Concordia 2
Records: DU (3-0), CU (0-3)
 
FAST START
The Panthers looked to set the tone of the game early, and they were rewarded. Emily Ellis would score just over 90 seconds into the game. Only a couple of minutes later, Jaiden Forrest would extend the Panthers lead off a play set up by Courtney Mulligan and Jessica Plowman. Mulligan would get a goal of her own moments later, and the Panthers led 3-0 before the halfway mark of the first period.
Concordia would shrink down the DU lead to two with a goal from Mira Rolin.
 
A PAIR OF HAT-TRICKS
With just a few minutes left in the first, Forrest would put in her second of the game, shorthanded, from Hailey Williams. Davenport was left off the score sheet in the middle frame, and Rolin tacked on another goal, on a breakaway to make it only a two-goal game heading into the third period. The Panthers knew they needed a good final 20 minutes if they wanted to walk away with two points, and they came out flying in the third period. Forrest would get her hat-trick goal less than five minutes into the final period. Olivia Rudberg set up Ellis for her second of the night, and just a few minutes later, Ellis would complete her own hat-trick to give the Panthers a five-goal lead. With only a couple of minutes left in the game, Forrest scored again, giving her four goals on the night, as Davenport took home the win by a final score of 8-2.
 
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Mulligan ended the night with a goal and two assists to her credit, and Julia Gaynor earned her third win of the season.
 
WHO'S NEXT?
Davenport will head up to Amerherst, Massachusetts to take part in a showcase next weekend. They will take on host team U-Mass on Friday night at 2 p.m., followed up with a tilt against Liberty at 4 p.m. on Saturday, then they'll wrap up the weekend against Rhode Island on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. All three teams finished in the top-15, with the Minutemen and the Flames finishing in the top-10.
 
Though next weekend looks tough for Davenport, Coach Coretti believes his team is making the steps in the right direction to take on the best in the country. "The team is starting to realize we have some talent and it's not how good you are right now, it's how good we want to be. We need to keep focused on the process of individual and team improvement and getting better each and every day we're together."
 
Story by: Tyler Kuehl
 
Picture credit: Tyler Triemstra