TEMPE – Arizona State (12-12-1, 5-7-1 NCHC) fought an uphill battle all night in Game 1 against No. 4 North Dakota (19-6, 11-4 NCHC) on Friday night at Mullett Arena. The Sun Devils trailed by a pair of goals twice, tied it in the second period and got within one in the third, but couldn’t sustain their momentum and eventually lost 7-4.
“When you score four goals at home against that team, you have to find a way to win,” ASU coach Greg Powers said.
The Fighting Hawks went with former Sun Devil, graduate student goaltender Gibson Homer, in net, who was returning to Tempe for the first time since transferring last spring. ASU challenged him early, but it was UND who struck first.
Six minutes in, junior defenseman and Phoenix native Jake Livanavage pinched at the blue line and powered his way to the front of the net. Sun Devil senior goaltender Connor Hasley made the initial save, but Fighting Hawk junior forward Anthony Menghini was there to clean up the rebound.
Five minutes later, the Sun Devils had an abbreviated power play, but just as it was beginning, the Fighting Hawks were circling in the offensive zone. Junior defenseman Abram Wiebe floated one towards the net, and senior forward Ellis Rickwood deflected the puck past Hasley.
Down two heading into the second, the Maroon and Gold responded with an unconventional goal from an unlikely source. Just past the halfway mark of the period, senior defenseman Tucker Ness bobbled a pass at the left point. Ness turned and lobbed one over a crowd in front, and it found its way to the back of the net, beating his former roommate Homer.
UND took a penalty 90 seconds later, giving ASU a make-or-break opportunity on the power play. The Sun Devils were 0-for-2 on the man advantage but capitalized on crisp passing. Senior forwards Cruz Lucius and Bennett Schimek worked their magic and opened up freshman forward Carmelo Crandell, who fired a one-timer past Homer, knotting the score at two all.
The building was alive and the Sun Devils had hope. The Fighting Hawks diminished that optimism as sophomore forward Cody Croal capitalized on a one-timer of his own just 1:14 later.
That goal set the tone for the third period. Just 1:40 into the final frame freshman defenseman Keaton Verhoeff restored the two-goal lead for UND. Three minutes later, Verhoeff took a cross-checking penalty to put ASU back on the power play for the sixth time.
Junior forward Kyle Smolen won a puck battle in the corner and swung a backhand pass across the ice to freshman defenseman Justin Kipkie, who buried it to get ASU back within one.
Just as they had done all game, North Dakota countered swiftly. Just 52 seconds later, senior forward Dylan James netted the team’s fifth goal. Fighting Hawks fans waited another one minute and 32 seconds for freshman forward Will Zellers to get in on the action, giving UND its largest lead of the night. This took the wind out of the Sun Devils’ sails.
“We had moments, but it needs to be consistent if you want to beat a team like that,” junior forward and co-captain Kyle Smolen said.
ASU senior forward Johnny Waldron went to the backhand on a breakaway to cut the lead to two once again. However, with the goalie pulled, Zellers notched his second of the game and officially put the game on ice.
The Sun Devils’ mistakes were largely in front of their goaltender, gift-wrapping a high-powered offense with grade-A chances. Mistakes have been made by younger members, but tonight veteran blue liners were under the microscope.
“It’s completely uncharacteristic, the guys that made them tonight haven’t made them all year,” Powers said.
ASU faced two-goal deficits twice on Friday night and nearly overcame both. Yet it couldn’t stop North Dakota’s counterattack, which responded with a goal of its own within two minutes on multiple occasions.
“It’s a momentum killer, those are things we can’t allow to happen,” Smolen said.
When the two teams played in Grand Forks in mid-November, ASU dropped the first game and responded on the road the following night. Now, the Sun Devils are tasked with doing that once again, this time in front of their home crowd.
“There’s no other option,” Smolen said. “This is our season at this point.”
ASU will search for a big three points when the puck drops for Game 2 on Saturday at 5 p.m MST.
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