(Photo: Reagan Smith/WCSN)
In what was a hard-fought battle on the ice, the Arizona State women’s hockey team fell short to the University of Colorado, 2-1 in overtime, Friday
The Buffaloes dominated most of the game especially in the first two periods. They outshot ASU 32-6 after 40 minutes of play, but neither team was able to draw first blood.
After what was a very physically couple periods, the third wasn’t any different. The Devils were tested early as Colorado used its aggressive forecheck to keep the puck in the ASU end.
Their efforts would finally be rewarded as forward Mariah Dally put one past ASU senior goaltender Jordan Nash-Boulden to put the Buffaloes up 1-0.
It was looking bleak for the Sun Devils with 5:43 left in the third, having to go on the penalty kill once again. However, after clearing the puck down in the Colorado zone and a pass from freshman defenseman Abi McGee, senior captain Kat Jones was able to put one past Colorado goalie Lexi Hartmann to even up the score on a shorthanded goal.
Colorado put the Sun Devils on their heels with numerous opportunities in the final few minutes of regulation, but Nash-Boulden made some spectacular saves to keep her team in the game.
Nash-Boulden’s efforts propelled the game to overtime, but despite some early chances by ASU, the Buffaloes walked away with the 2-1 victory.
On what was a weird sequence of events, Buffaloes defenseman Cali Gonzalez took a shot from the faceoff dot that deflected of ASU’s Jones upper body before finding its way into the back of the net with 2:00 to go in the overtime.
Assistant head coach Kaley Marino said after the game that this is a learning experience for the team and that overall, she thought it was a good game for her group.
“We never gave up, and that’s how you learn,” she said. “They’re a great team and they’re experienced team. We were just telling our gals that we are not the underdog anymore, we just have to come out and were hoping for a little more offense, hopefully we do that next time. But overall a great game for us.”
McGee, who assisted on the Jones goal, thought this was one of the better games the team’s played this season.
“I definitely think that was one of our best performances of the entire season, considering they’re a really tough opponent,” McGee said. “It was definitely a hard game but we’re itching to come back tomorrow and put it away.”
Colorado’s speed on the ice was something ASU hadn’t seen from an opposing team in quite some time.
For as well as ASU played on defense, McGee thought the problem was stemmed from the neutral zone.
“I don’t think it was in their defensive zone, I think it was in our neutral zone,” McGee said. “They worked the puck well and they’re on it every time, two on the puck, always. They’re always there and I think we need to capitalize on that more. Stepping up and going to puck instead of trying to make and deflect from a play or trying to see the play pan out before you go and get it.”
The main reason ASU kept themselves in the game was due to Nash-Boulden who stopped 42 out of the 44 shots on net, and had some incredible saves to go along with it.
“Jordan [Nash-Boulden]’s always on,” McGee said. “This weekend is definitely more apparent for her just because it’s her senior weekend. I feel like she’s trying to make a statement for her last games at home, and she definitely is taking all 44 shots of that. I mean, that’s impeccable at this level of hockey.”
As far as Saturday’s game goes, coach Marino wants her team to put more pressure on the opposing goaltender.
“The big thing is shots on net. We have to thinking that they have to be pretty,” Marino said on what the team needs to do differently on Saturday. “It’s more about just getting in the zone and just putting pucks on net right away, not thinking too hard about any of them.”
One thing to look out for, tomorrow, is that the Buffaloes will be playing ASU in a second part of a double-header. The Buffs play GCU earlier in the day.
