ADRIAN, Mich. – The D1 Men's Hockey Team traveled out East for the Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League Playoffs. Their opponent was the Warriors from Rochester College. The Warriors earned their spot in the GLCHL semifinals after upsetting Kent State the night before. The Panthers split a weekend set with Rochester back in December, with DU winning the first contest 7-1, while the Warriors were able to upset Davenport 3-2 that same weekend.
 
Friday, March 8
Final Score: Davenport – Rochester
Location: Arrington Ice Arena (Adrian, Mich.)
 
PULLING AHEAD
The Panthers came out flying in the first 20 minutes. They hounded the Warriors in their own zone, however could not find the back of the net. Rochester's Ryan Kostelnik was tasked with making some huge stops, but he could not hold off the Panthers forever. Just passed the 14-minute mark of the period, DU captain Alex Hulford rifled a shot passed the blocking glove of Kostelnik to give the Panthers the lead.
 
FINALLY USING THE POWER
There is no secret that the Panthers struggled while with the man advantage towards the end of the regular season. Even early in the contest on Friday, they were not able to convert on the power play. However, that changed in period number two. Just a handful of minutes into the middle frame, Hulford brought the puck down the left wing side into the Rochester zone. As he closed in on the side of the net, he slid a pass in front to Wade Weisgerber, who quickly fired a shot under the pad of Kostelnik to put DU up by two.
 
A STARTLING REPSONSE
Just over a minute after the Panther goal, Rochester took advantage of a lucky bounce. Trevor Pode tipped a stretch pass into the Davenport zone, and beat Mike Gessler to the puck. Pode then took a bad angle shot that snuck passed Jason Rhynold, and just like that, the Warriors were back within one.
 
Only a couple minutes later, the Warriors would go on the power play. While with the man advantage, the puck was thrown towards the front of the Davenport net. TJ Burns found the loose puck, made a nice move, and beat Rhynold to tie the game at two.
 
SNIPER ALERT
The Panthers needed to bounce back. They doubled up the Warriors on shots through two periods of play, but could not pull ahead. With a power play to start the third, Davenport went on the prowl. Gessler and Brad Reitter played catch on the right side of the ice, before quickly moving it over to Austin Thompson. DU's leading goal scorer picked the top corner, giving the Panthers their second power play goal of the game, along with their second lead of the game just before the two-minute mark.
 
Under 90 seconds later, and on the power play once again, Alyx Fonseca would find some room and unleash a wrister that slipped passed Kostelnik to put the Panthers up by two once again.
 
This time, the Panthers did not allow Rochester to get back into the game, as they continued to pressure offensively. Despite not being able to put any more tallies on the scoreboard, the Panthers would come away with the 4-2 win.
 
WHO'S NEXT?
The Panthers now move on to the GLCHL Championship to take on long time rival Adrian College. The top-seeded Bulldogs made their way to the championship game after outlasting Calvin College with an overtime win. Adrian won both contests in the second-to-last weekend of the regular season, with both being one-goal games, with one coming by way of a shootout. Puck drop will be at 2 p.m. at Arrington Ice Arena.
 
Story by: Tyler Kuehl
 
Picture credit: Alexis Hoffman