PC Hockey Fell to #6 North Dakota, NEXT UP: Arizona St. and an Ex-Friar - McMahon
Robert McMahon, Sports Columnist
PC Hockey Fell to #6 North Dakota, NEXT UP: Arizona St. and an Ex-Friar - McMahon
With 50% of their roster new to the program, you knew it was going to take a miracle on ice for the Friars to knock off #6 University of North Dakota last weekend in Grand Forks, ND. The Fighting Hawks did not disappoint their 11,704 fans on opening night and handled the Friars with relative ease, winning 5-2.
The Friars played UND even in the first period and were tied 1-1 going into the second frame. The Friars goal was scored by freshman Braiden Clark, his first in a PC uniform. But the Hawks turned up their fore-checking game in the second period limiting the Friars to 7 shots on goal and no goals. North Dakota, meanwhile, scored 3 goals, including a power play goal, to take a commanding 4-1 lead going into the last frame.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTIt looked PC might mount a rally in the third period, when sophomore Hudson Malinoski lit the lamp at 07:32 on a PC power play. The Hawks played a conservative defensive game, however, after that goal, stymying any PC comeback. The Hawks closed out the scoring by netting an empty net goal at 19.06.
UND outshot PC 31-24 and won the face-off battle convincingly, winning 54% to 46%. Is there a silver lining in this loss? Well, a loss is a loss. But PC’s effort in this game was largely solid and this game has some benefit going forward. Their freshman skaters got a good taste of what to expect in Division 1 hockey against an elite team, and learned what it is going to take to win at this level. I’m sure Coach Leaman mentioned in the locker room after the game that “every shift counts,” and the new players have a better understanding of that concept.
Homecoming Weekend with a Twin Bill with Arizona State
The PC skaters entertain Arizona State University (ASU) this weekend with a game on Friday night at 7 PM and a matinee contest on Saturday at 4 PM.
Hard to imagine Tempe, AZ being a college hockey hotbed, but Arizona State is making a determined effort to be a force in Division One hockey. Starting in the late 1990’s at a club level, they raised millions from alumni to fund a full-fledged college hockey program. With an enrollment that is close to 60,000 students for each school semester, there are bound to be enough ASU sports-crazy graduates to support college hockey.
The hockey program has punched all the tickets to get to where they are today: club level; Division III level; Division II level; Division 1 level as an Independent; and now Division 1, as a member of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC). Yup, that NCHC, that includes traditional power-house teams like Denver and North Dakota.
College hockey has finally bloomed in the desert with the construction of a new on-campus 5,000-seat Mullett Arena in 2022, built for a tidy sum of $134 million. Recruiting has now become easier for the Sun Devils—Division 1 program, new members of the prestigious NCHC, and a beautiful on-campus hockey venue.
Look for Arizona State to begin to rival Denver and North Dakota in recruiting top notch players. With an alumni base of several hundred thousand, the Sun Devils are well-positioned to take advantage of NIL funds to attract first year and transfer players.
Last year before entering the NCHC, the Sun Devils compiled an eye-opening 24-8-2 record, but didn’t make the NCAA tournament, despite wins against Denver and Providence in Tempe. Its’ status as an independent team produced a lot of wins against marginal teams, so ASU just missed being selected to the 16-team NCAA tournament.
The PC Friars traveled to the desert last season and found out how good the ASU program is. The Friars split the two-game series, winning one game 2-1 in overtime and losing one game 4-3 in overtime. Coach Leaman will remind this year’s Friars about those games, just in case the 14 new hockey Friars shake their heads about a team from Arizona being any good.
Arizona comes in at 1- 2-1 this season against Air Force and Michigan prior to coming to Providence this weekend. Getting a tie against Michigan last week, when Michigan was ranked #5 in the country, awakened the college hockey world to realize that Arizona State is the real deal this year.
The twin bill against Arizona State will be played on Homecoming Weekend at PC, so hopefully, Friar fans will fill Schneider for both games. It should produce two close games. The Sundevils have a really good goalie in 6’5” Gibson Homer, who has allowed only 2.33 goals/game so far. Last year, he led all of Division 1 hockey with a .931 save percentage.
The weekend of hockey will have a little twist as each school will feature a transfer player from the other school. Junior Ben Schimek, the leading scorer so far for the Sun Devils, played his first two years of college hockey at PC; and Ryan O’Reilly, a winger for PC, is a graduate transfer from Arizona State.