And Then There Were Two: Mike Barrett and Dominic Moore Go Out as Champions

Five years ago this August, a group of eleven freshmen came to Adrian College to begin their college education and continue their hockey careers with the Men's ACHA DI team.

This class of freshmen, however, weren't just any class, they were special, or at least there was something special about them.

Maybe I'm biased, I'll throw that out there because I was starting my college education that August as well and spent four years growing up alongside them and consider them my family. Even if I'm biased, there was something special about that class of freshman.

Their careers began on September 30th, 2016 in Fremont, Nebraska. The freshman class combined for 17 points in their first weekend in an Adrian sweater and freshman goaltender Mike Barrett picked up his first college win in the second game of the series.

By the time senior night rolled around on February 27th, 2020, myself and six of them remained. One graduated early, two had moved to the D2 team and two had left school. Nevertheless, there was still something special about those six seniors.

It seemed like a deja vu as the Dawgs, lead by the six seniors, headed to playoffs before the National Tournament with a stellar 30-2 record and as the #1 team in the country. Their success mirrored that of the Class of 2018, whose careers ended on March 13th, 2018 with an 8-1 victory in the National Championship game. Both classes had paved the way for the Bulldog program, the Class of 2018 with setting a standard of expecting to make a National Tournament appearance and a GLCHL Regular Season and Playoff title each season and the Class of 2020 setting the standard to not just appear in the National Tournament but to go far into the tournament and go in as a top four seed. They even ended their careers with the exact same number of players down to the number of goalies, defensemen and forwards.

They'd gone far each year they'd appeared in the tournament, setting a program best for wins their first year despite their loss in the semifinals to Ohio. They did it once again their sophomore year, going 34-1 en route to the team's first National Championship. Their junior year ended with a bad taste in everyone's mouth with a loss to Minot State in the National Quarterfinals.

Senior year, they were out for revenge.

Dubbed the "revenge tour", the Dawgs tore up the 2019-20 season, going 30-2 through the regular season, dropping their only two games of the year to the #2 ranked Liberty games by only one goal each time. They were on fire, just to put it mildly.

They were the #1 team in the nations for sixteen weeks straight going into the National Tournament, statistically there was no better team in the league than the Adrian College Bulldogs. Take any stat you want, I did, and the Bulldogs were a head above their competition whether it was goals for, goal differential, powerplay percentage, penalty kill percentage, advanced goaltending statistics. The Bulldogs were the #1 team in the nation and there was nobody who came close to consistently being the best every night they hit the ice.

To put things into perspective, the Class of 2020 had lost 9 games in four years. 80% of ACHA teams lost more than 9 games in one season just in the 19-20 season.

March 7th, 2020, the Dawgs dominated Calvin University in the GLCHL Playoff Championship game, winning 5-1. Mike Barrett picks up the most valuable player of the tournament award, the same award former goalie partner Austyn Roudebush picked up on his way to backstopping the Dawgs to a National Title in 2018. Barrett had broken the team record for wins in a season earlier in the semester, picking up his 66th win back in January against Oakland University to become the winningest MD1 goalie ever.

The Dawgs were hot, and they were hot at just the right time as they prepared to head to Frisco, Texas for the National Tournament as the #1 team in the nation. For the first time in program history they weren't just going in as #1 or a top four seed, but as the favorite to win the tournament.

But as fate would have it, that's where the luck would end for the Bulldogs and the Class of 2020.

March 12th, 2020. Head Coach Gary Astalos sits his team down and tells them the news that, less than forty-eight hours after the ACHA ensured everyone the tournament would go on despite the growing worry over COVID-19, they won't be traveling to Texas the following week and that the season was over.

And so ended the careers of the Class of 2020.

After a summer of uncertainty, the Bulldogs hit the ice once again in September with a new fire in their veins. The entire team wanted to prove that they would finish this season how they knew the season prior was supposed to end.

The Class of 2021 looked to go out as champions, the same way they came in when they won in 2018.

The Class of 2022 wanted more than just a National Quarterfinal loss on their record and had been hungry for another chance at the National Tournament.

The Class of 2023 weren't even given a chance to see what the tournament was like.

And the new guys, the Class of 2024 had high expectations coming onto a team with the storied legacy that the Bulldogs like the Class of 2020 had built.

But for two members of the 2020-21 team, this year meant just a little bit more.

Dominic Moore and Mike Barrett had returned to the team for a fifth year as they both pursued graduate degrees at Adrian. Moore, one of the Dawgs greatest playmakers, and Barrett, arguably the best goaltender the Dawgs had ever seen, were back and out for revenge once again, for real this time.

This season was even harder than the rest, the Dawgs only got in two exhibition games and two games against Liberty in the first semester when they typically get in 15-17. They had several teams cancel their seasons on them or pull out and cancel games because of COVID protocols. Games were rescheduled, cancelled and the GLCHL tournament was completely restructured.

But the Dawgs played on, grateful to be on the ice no matter what. There were a huge number of teams just in the ACHA DI that didn't even get to play this past season. With Coach Astalos leading the way, the Bulldogs stayed grateful for every moment they got to hit the ice and stayed focused on their ultimate goal.

Barrett, the winningest goalie in team history, took over the team shutout record, posting his 18th shutout on February 20st against Ohio University. Moore took over fifth place on the team's leading point getters, fifth in goals in a career and tied for sixth in assists in a career by the time the Dawgs were heading to Nationals.

They played in a modified GLCHL Tournament, playing one game against Calvin, the only remaining team in the league, and topping the Knights 5-0 with Barrett once again picking up tournament MVP honors.

They headed into the National Tournament as #1 yet again, this time as they travelled to St. Louis, Missouri and the Maryville University Hockey Center.

The Dawgs stormed into the tournament on fire, beating McKendree 15-1 and setting a tournament record for goals scored in a National Tournament game. They then took down Iowa State 10-2 in the National Quarterfinal before facing familiar foe Indiana Tech in the semifinal.

The Bulldogs topped the Warriors 4-1.

Ever since the first Adrian vs. Liberty series last season, I know a lot of people who thought those same two teams would square off to win it all last March and again this April. The Flames, however, would fall in the semifinals to the Minot State University Beavers.

I couldn't have written it better, the Dawgs, hungry for a National Championship, out for revenge after being bounced in the quarterfinals in the last tournament and after having the careers of four of their teammates cut short were now facing the team who kicked off their revenge tour in the first place.

And on April 20th, 2021, a journey, a "revenge tour" if you will, started by one team and lead by their six seniors last fall had a finally storybook ending as the Dawgs took down Minot State 6-1 for their second National Championship Title.

Five years ago this August, the Class of 2020 became Bulldogs and started their careers with eleven members. A little over a year ago, the careers of the six remaining seniors were cut tragically short.

But less than two weeks ago now, two remained and took care of unfinished business as the Bulldogs won their second title in four seasons.

And those parallels to the Class of 2018 and 2020? Three years ago this past March, Austyn Roudebush pulled off a perfect season with a 26-0 record and took home both the GLCHL Playoff MVP and National Tournament MVP titles. Roudebush picked up an assist in his final game as well.

Mike Barrett, the winningest goalie in team history, finished his final season this April with a perfect season, 16-0, and only one win shy of NCAA goaltender Brad Fogal's program record for wins in a season. Barrett also picked up an assist in his final game, but did one up Roudebush and manage to grab two assists throughout the tournament.

So how do you wrap up the careers of players like these? Of players who became your family over the last five years? I don't know how to do it any justice, but I don't think I could've written a better ending than they wrote for themselves a little over a week ago with a 6-1 victory and a National Championship title.