Written by Tyler Kuehl
 
ANGOLA, Ind. – After a tough loss to start the GMHL Showcase on Friday, the D2 hockey team had an opportunity to bounce back on Saturday against Aurora University. The Panthers had never won in four meetings with the Spartans.
 
The game was a wild back-and-forth contest. When the Panthers scored, so did the Spartans. However, two goals from Clint Loney, and three goals from DU defensemen, the Panthers were able to come away with the hard-earned victory.
 
QUICK STATS
 
Final Score: Davenport 7 – Aurora 5
Shots: DU 35, AU 41
Power Play: DU (1/8), AU (1/7)
Records: DU (2-2), AU (1-1)
 
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
 
Loney led the Panthers with two goals in the game, while Adam Hulsey and Tyler Jaenicke each helped out with a pair of assists. Brody White and Jean-Phillipe Montmarquette each scored their first goals wearing a Davenport uniform, with White tallying an assist as well.
 
TRADING BLOWS
 
The scoring started early on as DU's Cole Uzzell scored just over 90 seconds into the contest to give the Panthers the early lead. However, just a few minutes later, the Spartans' Sam Weiss beat Drake Deering, while Davenport was on the power play, to tie the game at one.
 
The Panthers would go to the lead once again with just over seven minutes to play in the opening period, as Loney beat Aurora's Brian Temple. Once again, Aurora would not allow Davenport to have the lead for long, as Weiss would score his second shorthanded goal of the game with less than a minute remaining in the period, and the game would head to the intermission with the two teams deadlocked at two.
 
TAKING CONTROL
 
In the second period, DU would find a way to hold their own at both ends of the rink. Kyle Mazur scored just passed the six-minute mark to give the Panthers their third lead on the night. A little over passed the halfway mark of the period, Trevor Murray would score his first of the season to put DU up by two.
 
Zach Tylurki would score for Aurora to make it a one-goal game, but Loney's shorthanded goal with just a few minutes left in the frame sent Davenport into the third period with a two-goal lead.
 
FRESH BLUELINE
 
The Panthers were able to further extend their lead early in the final stanza. First, Brody White would notch his first of the season on the power play. Just a few minutes later, White, along with Hulsey, helped set up Montmarquette for his first goal as a Panther to put the Panthers up 7-3.
 
The Spartans' Ian Sweeney scored just before the 10-minute mark of the period, and Weiss completed the hat trick late in regulation, but it would prove to not be enough, as the Panthers would hold on to pick up their second win of the season by a final score of 7-5.
 
WHO'S NEXT?
 
One more game this weekend for the Panthers. They will be taking on the host team of the showcase, Trine University. The Panthers defeated the Thunder in the showcase hosted by Lindenwood last season, but Trine won the final three meetings, including in the Central Regionals last season which ended DU's season. Davenport is 1-5 all-time against Trine.
 
Puck drop at the Thunder Ice Arena is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday.