HOLLAND, Mich. – The D3 Hockey club entered the MCHC West Playoffs as the underdog against one of the best teams in the region, the Spartans from Michigan State. MSU was 19-8-1 in the regular season, and had already defeated the Panthers twice by a combined margin of 21-4.
 
Friday, February 22
Final Score: Davenport 3 – Michigan State 9
Location: Griff's IceHouse West (Holland, Mich.)
 
THE BIG GREEN
The exceptional Spartan offense would come out flying early in the contest. Austin Rothe potted a goal just before the four-minute mark to give Michigan State the lead. Just over a couple minutes later, leading-scorer Joseph Zelenka made it a 2-0 game. Colin Nestor would find a way to slip one passed Jordan Tafel to put MSU up by three.
 
GETTING ON THE BOARD
Davenport would have a power play opportunity later on in the first. After a setup from Elijah Klco and Charlie Bonser, Shawn Marschall would cut the Spartan lead to two just over five minutes left in the period.
 
Yet, the Spartans would earn their three-goal lead back after Zelenka scored with only 44 seconds left in the period, and MSU would take a 4-1 lead into the first intermission.
 
TRADING TALLIES
The second period started a little slower in terms of scoring, however MSU's Carter O'Neil would find the back of the net just before the halfway mark to put the Spartans up by four. Elijah Klco would get one back for the Panthers, with the assists coming from Hunter Tolsdorf and Nick Fennessy. In the dying minutes of the second, MSU would go up by four again with a goal from Alexander Franczek.
 
Tafel would be replaced by Jacob Mofield in the third period, and Mason Buresh would add another goal for Michigan State to make it a 7-2 game. DU's leading-scorer, Bonser, would notch another goal for the Panthers in the latter half of the third. Goals from Collin Lynch and Brendan Luecker would cap off the night, and the Spartans would knock out the Panthers by a final score of 9-3.
 
WRAP UP
The Panthers will end the season with a 2-19-1 record. Bonser's 32 points led the team, with freshman Tolsdorf's 24 right behind him. Mofield and Strauss each had a win in net, while Tafel's .806 save-percentage was best among the three netminders.
 
Story by: Tyler Kuehl
 
Picture credit: Alexis Hoffman