UND Athletics/Russell Hons
TEMPE, Ariz. (UND Athletics)– Sacha Boisvert struck 2:19 into the overtime session to help No. 14/17 North Dakota defeat No. 16/15 Arizona State, 4-3, in OT on Saturday night from Mullett Arena in Tempe, Ariz.
UND (12-8-1, 7-3-0 NCHC) once again showed its moxie late in games, rallying from a 3-2 deficit in the final minute before Boisvert struck for his ninth goal of the season and first overtime winner of his career to move the Fighting Hawks into a tie for first place in the conference standings with 19 points.
With under a minute to play and the goalie pulled, Cameron Berg announced his return to the lineup by snapping home the tying goal with 28 seconds to play for his fifth of the season and first since Nov. 9 while also dishing out an assist to give him his fourth multi-point game of the year.
Berg was one of three UND players to tally multiple points in the win, with Jake Schmaltz potting a goal and assist and Phoenix, Ariz., native dishing out a pair of helpers in his first weekend back in his hometown.
Sophomore goaltender Hobie Hedquist was sharp throughout the contest, finishing with 21 saves on 24 shot attempts to improve to 2-3-1 on the season. The Heron Lake, Minn., native made his best save of the night in the 3-on-3 overtime session, moving to his right to rob the ASU player just moments before Boisvert’s winner.
Hedquist was big in the opening 20 minutes for the Fighting Hawks, finishing with nine stops to keep the game scoreless at the end of one. The Heron Lake, Minn., native’s biggest stop came while NoDak was on the power play, as he was able to thwart a shorthanded breakaway attempt with his pads.
ASU thought they got on the board in the closing minutes in the stanza, but a successful offside challenge by UND removed the goal and sent the teams to the locker room still even at 0-0.
It was the veteran players who got the scoring started for UND, as Louis Jamernik V forced a turnover in the high slot and allowed Schmaltz to wire home his fourth of the season to give the visitors a 1-0 lead just over six minutes into the middle frame.
The Sun Devils answered back with the second shorthanded goal of the weekend after a misplay from Hedquist allowed Artem Shlaine to tuck the puck into the open net to even the game at 1-1. Moments later, Perron gave the lead right back to UND with a perfect snipe into the top corner for his seventh goal of the year make it 2-1 for the Fighting Hawks after 40 minutes.
Momentum flipped in the early moments of the third period, however, as Jamernik V was whistled for a major penalty and game misconduct for contact to the head to give the Sun Devils a 5-minute power play chance. After a pair of great shorthanded opportunities for UND, ASU eventually tied the game at 2-2 before taking the lead just over a minute later with a pair of power play tallies.
It took down the final moments, but UND rallied back once again when Berg fired a shot through traffic that beat the goaltender and tied the game at 3-3 with just under a half minute to play in regulation. In the overtime, Hedquist made his best save of the night before springing Boisvert to tuck home the game winner and secure a big two points in the NCHC standings.
North Dakota will return home to battle Western Michigan for a series beginning on Friday night at 7:07 p.m. (CT) from Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Postgame Notes
- UND wore its black jerseys for only the second time this season, improving to 1-1-0
- North Dakota records its first win against Arizona State in program history
- Sacha Boisvert scored his first OT goal of his career
- Cameron Berg tallied his first goal since Nov. 9 and notched his fourth multi-point game
- Jake Livanavage dished out two assists for a multi-point contest
- Jake Schmaltz added a goal and a helper for a multi-point game
- Hobie Hedquist finished with 21 saves on 24 shots in the win
- NoDak finished 1-for-6 on the power play while ASU was 2-for-5
- The Hawks move into a tie for first place in the NCHC standings
- UND improves to 3-0-1 this season in overtime
- NoDak is now 5-1-0 this season on the road in NCHC play
- Faceoffs were 33-25 UND, with Cameron Berg going 9-6 to lead everyone
How It Happened
First Period
No scoring
Second Period
06:14 | UND – Jake Schmaltz (4)
12:00 | ASU – Artem Shlaine (7, SH)
14:58 | UND – Jayden Perron (7, PP) from Jake Livanavage (13) and Cameron Berg (5)
Third Period
06:45 | ASU – Bennett Schimek (8, PP) from Cruz Lucius (2) and Lukas Sillinger (14)
07:59 | ASU – Shlaine (8, PP) from Sillinger (15) and Noah Beck (17)
19:32 | UND – Cameron Berg (5, EA) from Livanavage (14) and Schmaltz (7)
Overtime
02:19 | UND – Sacha Boisvert (9) from Dylan James (6) and Abram Wiebe (12)
Game Recap: Men’s Hockey | | Alec Stocker Johnson, FightingHawks.com
Comments