ST. LOUIS — Matty Davis stopped everything but the tears.
“I’m just forever proud to be a Pio,” the DU goaltender whispered, eyes puffy and red, a few minutes after his Pioneers fell to Western Michigan in overtime, 3-2, in a Frozen Four semifinal. “I love this program with everything …
“Yeah. Yeah, I don’t know.”
You know where DU is without Davis on Thursday? Buried between Thomas Hart Benton and Adolphus Busch in St. Louis. A national champion blown out of its title defense with a wave and a whimper.
“It (stinks) to lose, for sure, when you’re expected to win championships,” DU forward Connor Caponi told me matter-of-factly. “So yeah, heartbreaking for the guys. And really sad that we couldn’t help our goalie out more than we did.”
Davis didn’t just deserve the victory. He deserved a Nobel Prize for grace under fire, a primetime Emmy for sheer guts.
The Broncos outshot DU 12-3 during the first period, 18-5 during the second and 10-5 through the first overtime. In his Pios finale, Davis faced 44 shots, turning away all but three.
Context: That’s twice as many stops (22) as his WMU counterpart, Hampton Slukynsky, had against Davis’ teammates. It was one-way traffic from the jump. If Davis hadn’t kept DU within shouting distance, the crying in the Pios camp would’ve started a heck of a lot sooner.
“Credit to Matt Davis,” Broncos coach Pat Ferschweiler said, “for holding them in there. We were really pushing in the second period.”
If you’re an NHL front office, how have you not called this guy? Especially after the show he put on at the Enterprise Center? The Avs are happy as clams with Mackenzie Blackwood, who’s 28 and blocks out the sun. But you can never have too much of a good thing.
Matty Davis is a good thing. A special thing. A two-time national champion with the tattoos to prove it.
He deserved another happy ending, another trophy. Instead, his collegiate eligibility ended on a crazy bounce, the way most of them seemed to go against Western. Some 26 seconds into the second extra period, the biscuit bopped off DU defenseman Zeev Buium’s stick, bounded straight to Western Michigan forward Owen Michaels, and wound up kissing twine.
“He’s a heck of a goaltender,” Michaels said of Davis. “It’s not too fun playing against him. His resume speaks for itself. He’s a winner. And he keeps it nice and stable back there for their team.”
He’s the kind of netminder you can build a dynasty around. It was the first time Davis had given up more than one goal in an NCAA tourney appearance.
While DU’s offense floundered, Pios captain Carter King rallied the troops between periods. Coach David Carle tweaked their forecheck in the neutral zone to put more heat on the WMU d-men in the third period. The added temperature worked like a charm. And with two goals over the final 13:11 of regulation, thanks to Aidan Thompson’s rebound and Jared Wright’s 5-hole poke, the Pios darn near gave everybody in maroon a carDUvascular episode late.
Without Davis pulling rabbits out of hats over the first 40 minutes, though, the Pios don’t have a snowball’s chance in Aruba. At one point, with 7:45 left in the opening stanza, Matty D even found himself defending the crease without a stick, squatting in his crease like an MMA fighter.
“MATTY-DAVIS!” the DU faithful chanted from one corner of the arena.
Clap, clap, clap-clap-clap!
“MATTY-DAVIS!”
Davis spent so much of the opening period standing on his head that, 11 seconds into the second stanza, his mask came off.
“I can’t speak enough about Matty,” Caponi said. “He’s obviously a phenomenal goaltender. And if you’re an NHL team, I don’t see how you’re not all over him. And he’s obviously a gamer. And it’s been an honor to share the ice with Matt. And I wish nothing but the best for him in this future. And he’s gonna have a great career.”
Just turn on the tape. Any tape. But especially the NCAA tape, when the lights burned brightest.
“I mean, I was just trying to do whatever I was called upon to do,” Davis said softly. ” And you know …”
A pause. He trailed off.
“Can you reflect upon the memories,” a reporter asked, “the four years, the titles, the friendships?”
“Yeah,” he said, the emotions welling up again. “Sorry.”
The moments were a blur. So were the shots. With 7:43 left in overtime, Davis took a flukey bounce and caressed it off his right pad, his right abdomen, then his right pad again. The biscuit somehow trickled forward, to the point where a prone goalie managed to cradle it between his helmet and his hands.
“How?” I wondered.
“Yeah,” Davis replied. “I mean … yeah. I was just trying to do whatever I could.”
Another pause. Longer this time.
“Sorry,” Davis said. “I’m not giving you much here.”
It’s OK, man. You gave the Pios plenty.
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