Arizona State Goaltender Stuns UND, 4-2, Despite Fighting Hawks’ Dominant Shots
despite outshooting Arizona State 41-15, the University of North Dakota (UND) Fighting Hawks suffered a 4-2 defeat on Saturday night at Ralph engelstad Arena, largely due to the stellar performance of Sun Devils goaltender Connor hasley. The loss came after a weekend split, leaving UND atop the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) standings but with concerns about consistent performance.
“We’ve had a lot of good, but we only play two games a week. To not be playing full games is something we have to get better at if we want to vie for a championship,” noted a senior player.”I think when you only have two games a week, you should be able to play a full 120 minutes. We had stretches where we had it. We had a lot of shots, but we didn’t score enough.”
The Fighting Hawks struggled to solve hasley, who previously led Bentley to an NCAA tournament appearance. He allowed only two goals, both from UND’s leading scorer, Ben Strinden.
UND’s goaltender,Gibson Homer,a transfer from Arizona State,faced 14 shots,stopping 11. however, a recurring theme this season, Homer was “let down every time so far” by the defense, according to one player. “We just haven’t played well for Gibby, which stinks, because he’s an amazing goalie and an unbelievable guy.”
With the loss, UND’s record falls to 8-4 overall and 4-2 in NCHC play, while Arizona State improves to 4-7-1 and 2-3-1. A team representative stated,”I don’t think we played a full 60 [minutes].” They added, “We saw what happened in the third period when we made a push and how we want to play, and we dominated the third. I think we just need to play a full 60 both games on a weekend.”
The Fighting Hawks were also hampered by injuries,playing without top-line center Ellis Rickwood,and two other forwards,Jack Kernan and Josh Zakreski. Despite the setbacks, Jackson expressed confidence in his team’s depth, saying, “Obviously, losing Ricky is a huge loss, but we have guys that are going to step into that role and do a good job.”
UND allowed a goal in the final two minutes of the second period in four consecutive games and five of the last six, a troubling trend Jackson acknowledged. “Just disappointed to not have a 60-minute effort,” he said. “We’d have good defensive play for long stretches, then give up a high-danger chance.”
Strinden scored early in the third period, cutting the deficit to 3-2 at 17:43, but Arizona State responded with an empty-net goal by bennett Schimek with 2:13 remaining, sealing the victory. Jackson criticized the play, stating, “If we have six and they have four, for them to be able to get a puck, clear it and put it on net…is not a good option for them.”
Despite the loss, Strinden remains a luminous spot for UND, with five goals and 10 points in the last five games, and a team-leading 15 points overall. However, he remained focused on the team’s performance. “Obviously, I got a couple more, but we didn’t get the win,” he said. “Ultimately, we’re trying to get the win. I think we let some people down.”
UND will next face the U.S. Under-18 Team in an exhibition game next Friday, using the time to address the issues exposed in Saturday’s loss. Jackson concluded, “There was some good play throughout the game, but I go back to that idea that you’ve got to execute and you’ve got to defend hard for the full game.”
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