(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
After scoring two goals in the first period, the Arizona State women’s club hockey team was in a bright spot, however the tides changed and the team gave up five goals to lose the second game of the series against Colorado-Boulder 5-3.
Colorado-Boulder had three shots in the first minute and half of the game, so it was only a matter of time before the shot count was in double digits.
On the other hand, the Sun Devils didn’t wait long to get a goal in the back of the net.
With 16:56 to play in the first period, captain Amber Galles scored her fourth goal of the season. She skated down the left side of the ice before taking a backhanded shot that went over the shoulder of Colorado-Boulder goaltender Lexi Hartmann to give her a goal in every game the team has played in so far.
ASU continued with a hard-offensive rush for the following minutes. However, the flow of the game changed and the Buffaloes started dominating offensively against the Sun Devils.
Both teams were extremely vocal throughout the entire game and they were not only vocal to their teammates, but to the opposing squads as well.
During the Buffaloes rush to score a goal, the Sun Devils were unable to escape the defensive zone, causing the shots to tally up against goaltender Jordan Nash-Boulden.
The Sun Devils did not let the number of shots deter them, as just over eight minutes after the first goal, Dannika Borges received the puck from KC McGinley and took a shot from the top of the circle, pushing the Devils to a 2-0 lead.
“Being open and being in front of the net definitely helps,” said Borges. “When you have your players on your line that want to get it (win) too it helps so much because they are looking for that pass, they are looking for that goal as well.”
By the time the first period had concluded, the Buffaloes had tallied 26 shots on Nash-Boulden, who kept ASU in the game during the first period and the following two periods.
“I think overall, I feel like I did really well. I was comfortable with the majority of the shots,” said Nash-Boulden after the loss.
Hartmann allowed two goals with only seven shots on net for the Sun Devils in the first period, then coming into the second period, Natalie Warnes took over in goal for the Buffaloes.
Just 29 seconds into the period Maura Keift scored her first goal of the night to break the Sun Devil lead to one goal.
Seven minutes later, Colorado-Boulder scored their second goal of the night to tie the game. Mariah Dalley took a shot that went glove side past Nash-Boulden.
In the final two minutes of the period Keift scored two more goals, earning herself a hat trick on the night and making the Buffaloes lead 4-2.
By the end of the second period, ASU only had 10 shots on net and gave up four goals.
“The second period was kind of rough but I think as a team we picked it up in the third and that really showed,” said Nash-Boulden “It was awesome to just get out to that early lead and play from ahead for a little while.”
The Devils were not ready to give up and continued to be resilient in the third period. Borges tallied her second goal on the night at 16:13, chopping down the lead to 4-3.
Throughout the third period, play was even across the board for both teams. After Friday night’s game, where they were called for six penalties, the Sun Devils were got called for four penalties, a significant improvement.
With less than 11 minutes left in the game, Keift scored her fourth goal of the night after Nash-Boulden came down too early in the crease and was unable to get back up to snatch the puck.
At the end of the night, the shots against Nash-Boulden came to a total of 64 shots from Colorado-Boulder. Her work ethic did not go unnoticed.
“Incredible. I mean she held us in this game the whole way,” said head coach Lindsey Ellis.
This week, the team will be working on a few important concepts for their next games after allowing 64 shots and only having 16 shots on net.
“Our defensive zone is something that is an area of improvement for us, but also entering the zone and getting those opportunities on net instead of taking those shots from far out is something we need to work on as well,” said Ellis.
Nash-Boulden and the Sun Devils will play two games this upcoming weekend. Friday, October 13 and Saturday, October 14 against Colorado State.
