Byron Center, Mich. — Friday the 13th was unlucky for the Aquinas women's hockey team. The Saints lost their season-opener 2-1 to Davenport on Friday (Oct. 13) inside the Southside Ice Arena.

The Saints (0-1, 0-1 CCWHA) suffered their first lost to Davenport (1-4, 1-2 CCWHA) in 11 meetings. Prior to Friday night, the Panthers last win over AQ was Feb. 12, 2020.

Even before the puck dropped, things felt off as the national anthem played for roughly three seconds before the tablet playing music froze up and abruptly shut down. The rink went silent for a few moments, until the student section, crowd and then the players joined together to sing the national anthem. The patriotic gesture, however, didn't inspire any goal in the opening period.

Instead, Aquinas racked up four penalties and were delighted to escape the first 20 minutes without giving up a goal after being outshot 14-6.

The slow start carried over into the start of the second period. Davenport scored first 1:49 into the frame on a goal by Gabby Basha, assisted by Abigail Hildebrand.

While the goal was scored at even strength, AQ once again struggled to stay out of the penalty box — picking up four more penalties. The Panthers weren't much better with three trips over to the box.

Things started to look really bleak for the Saints when DU's Katie Anderson scored with 9:42 remaining on a pass by Abi Courtney. However, Aquinas showed some push back with a quick response 33 seconds later. Senior forward Anna Castle buried the Saints' first goal of the season with a bunch of traffic in front of the net. Both Alyssa Exline and McKenna Kaczor were credited with assists.

More penalties and getting trapped in their own defensive zone didn't allow first-year head coach Matthew Bland to pull his goaltender, Kadynce Romijn, for an extra attacker late in the contest. Davenport melted away the rest of the clock to win its first game this season and first win since Oct. 29, 2021, after going winless (0-22) last season.

Romijn made 27 saves the defeat, while DU's goalie Dayna Templeton made 33 saves.

Aquinas looks for revenge Saturday afternoon (Oct. 14) in a road rematch against Davenport at the Patterson Ice Arena. Puck drop at 3 p.m.