Categories: Arizona StateD2 Hockey

ASU Elite Hockey: Despite Tough Fight, ASU Falls to Minot State

Teams have games throughout the season that are used as a measuring stick for where they are in the season. This was one of those games.

The Arizona State ACHA Elite hockey team fought valiantly in a 7-6 shootout loss to the Minot State Beavers.

Lyndon Lipinski of Minot State notched the only tally of the shootout, going high glove side on Arizona State goaltender Jordan Gluck, who made 46 saves in overtime and regulation.

The Beavers came out strong to start the first period, going up 2-0 within the first four minutes and 26 seconds. Liam Pues of the Sun Devils cut the deficit in half with a goal assisted by Austin Ehrlich and Ryan McNeely at 9:51 of the first, however Beaver Captain Brett Nespor put the lead back at two just 66 seconds later with his second goal of the frame.

The second period featured five goals, highlighted by Nespor getting his third goal of the game along with two goals from his teammate Brett McNevin after ASU had fought back to tie the score with goals from Ehrlich and McNeely within the first five minutes.

Going into the third period down 6-3 and being outshot 34-19, Ryan Francis took it upon himself to lead his team back and was able to get the game tied on his own. Facing the number one ACHA team in the division above their own, Francis scored a natural hat trick with tallies at 1:06, 12:29 and 14:29 of the frame

Gluck was once again one of, if not the most, valuable player on the ice for the Sun Devils, as he was able to maintain his composure despite giving up six goals in the first 39 minutes of the game.

Gluck made critical saves in the first 10 minutes of the third period to give the Francis hat trick a chance to materialize.

Despite the tough loss, the Devils can definitely take a positive mindset out of this game as the Beavers came in with a perfect 10-0-0 record and a month-long streak of being voted the number one team in ACHA Division 1.

The team will be right back to work on Friday night at 7:20 pm MST, as they play the first of two games against the Northeastern Huskies, with the second game coming on Sunday afternoon from Oceanside Ice Arena.