Written by Tyler Kuehl
 
HOLLAND, Mich. – After a regular season that saw them have their best season in six years, the D3 hockey team made their way across town for round one of the Michigan Collegiate Hockey Conference (MCHC) Playoffs. Their opponents were the no. 3-seed Ferris State Clubdawgs, a team that won all eight meetings against the Panthers leading into Friday night's contest.
 
The Clubdawgs kept the Panthers hemmed into their own zone for the most of the period, forcing Barrett Rosser and Jordan Tafel to be active in net for the Panthers. DU only trailed by two after the first period, but the Clubdawgs did not allow the Panthers to get any sustained offense, and would pick up the win to move on to the quarterfinals.
 
QUICK SCORE
 
Final Score: Davenport – Ferris State
Shots: DU 21 | FSU 53
Power Play: DU (0/2) | FSU (0/2)
 
A DAWGED EFFORT
 
Ferris State's offense was alive and well, as they controlled the puck in the DU end for much of the opening period. Danny Hill banged in the opening goal just over three minutes into game after a weird bounce of the glass behind the Davenport goal.
 
Later in the period, Joe Carney fired a cross-ice pass that found Nathan Rieman streaking down the right wing. Rieman was able to get around Marcus Chartrand and beat Barrett Rosser to put Ferris up by two. Just a minute-and-a-half later, Lance McLean would one-time a Matt Medonis pass by Rosser to give the Clubdawgs a 3-0 lead.
 
GETTING ON THE BOARD
 
In the final minute of the period, Davenport looked to be pinned in their own zone. That was, until Tyler Heyboer poked the puck to the neutral zone where Alexander Brown and Charlie Bonser went on a 2-on-1 rush the other way. Brown saucered a pass over to Bonser who scored with 20 seconds left in the period to make it a two-goal game heading into the break.
 
ROSSER LOOKING STRONG
 
The Clubdawgs were able to restore the three goal lead after Medonis scored just past the seven-minute mark of the frame. Quinn Jedd would score in the dying minutes of the period to make it 5-1, but the story was the play of Rosser.
 
Ferris State had two power plays in the second stanza, and fired six shots on each of the power plays. Rosser turned them all away, and was tasked with stopping three breakaways in the period, including making a pretty save on Nick Cloud. The effort from the DU netminder kept the game from getting out of hand in the second period.
 
In the final period of the season, Hill and Medonis each scored their second of the game, and the Clubdawgs eliminated the Panthers with the 7-2 win.
 
END OF THE LINE
 
The loss marks the final game in the careers for Parker Schmitt, Christopher Heath and Tyler Heyboer. Schmitt and Heath each played five seasons with DU, while Heyboer joined the team back in 2016. Schmitt finishes his career 7^th in games played with 114, with Heath finishing eighth playing in 113 games.



Stat Leaders for the 2019-20 Season:

Goals: Alexander Brown (21)
Assists: Charlie Bonser (34)
Points: Charlie Bonser (46)
Game-Winning Goals: Alexander Brown (3)
Goals-Against Average: Barrett Rosser (5.74)
Save-Percentage: Jordan Tafel (.877)