For the first time since the opening series of the season, ASU hockey was swept at home.
Entering the series after a bye week, ASU would need more than fresh legs to take down a formidable No. 4 North Dakota team that entered the weekend matchup at the top of the conference standings.
Heading into the weekend, ASU was still fresh off the news of sophomore forward Cullen Potter's season-ending injury, with freshman forward Jack Beck and freshman defenseman Lincoln Kuehne also injured for the series.
READ MORE: ASU hockey star Cullen Potter to miss rest of season due to injury
As the puck dropped to begin the series, the two teams were knotted in a high-intensity duel until junior forward Anthony Menghini and senior forward Ellis Rickwood scored goals to put the Fighting Hawks ahead.
That score held until midway through the second period when senior defenseman Tucker Ness and freshman forward Carmelo Crandell scored goals two minutes apart to level the score at 2-2.
However, North Dakota found an answer quickly from sophomore forward Cody Croal to send the Fighting Hawks up 3-2 into the second intermission.
Freshman defenseman Keaton Verhoeff opened the scoring for North Dakota in what would be a chaotic third period.
After North Dakota took a 6-3 advantage, sophomore defenseman Andrew Strathmann laid a hit to freshman forward Sam Alfano's head, leading to a scuffle that produced a flurry of penalties, primarily ejections for Strathmann and Alfano.
The hit to Alfano's head was initially not called during the play and needed a review to make the decision. After the game, ASU head coach Greg Powers was upset with the referees' decision-making.
"There (are) 5,100 people plus our team that saw head contact live," Powers said. "It was plain as day. It doesn't get any more simple than that, and they missed it."
As the dust settled from the chaos, ASU gained some momentum back thanks to the stick of senior forward Johnny Waldron. However, the two-goal lead was too much to make up for, with an empty-netter from freshman forward Will Zellers putting the game to rest at 7-4.
After dropping the first game of the series, co-captain and junior forward Kyle Smolen was disappointed with the way his team carried out their game plan on Friday night.
"We executed it in some moments," Smolen said. "It can't be in some moments. It's got to be all the time."
After a game that saw 18 penalties total and a season-high 11 combined goals, ASU had the opportunity to reset ahead of Saturday's game, and it told a different story.
Sophomore defenseman Brasen Boser and Alfano scored goals in the opening period to send ASU fans into a frenzy. However, the first period dominance was cut short as Verhoeff scored to end the first period with a 2-1 score.
Sophomore forward Logan Morrell scored early in the second period to give ASU a 3-1 lead. That score would stand until the final minute of the period, where Strathmann found the net for the Fighting Hawks to take some much-needed momentum into the locker rooms.
Zellers scored in the opening minute of the third period to tie the game up. Co-captain and senior forward Bennett Schimek was disappointed in how goals came in close to intermission.
"Those are big moments," Schimek said. "Last two minutes of the period, first two minutes of the period. We talked about just how important those minutes are. You don't necessarily have to score. We just can't give one up, and we did in both those scenarios."
From there, North Dakota caught fire to close out the game. A pair of North Dakota forwards scored in the third period to close out the game 5-3 and secure a sweep for the Fighting Hawks.
ASU allowed mistakes to pile up and turn into goals for North Dakota. Powers highlighted the need to limit those mistakes against an opponent like the Fighting Hawks.
"They're very good," Powers said. "They just keep coming at you in waves. You make too many mistakes, they're going to make you pay. That's exactly what happened."
After being swept by North Dakota, ASU now looks to its final 10 games of the season, which begin with a trip to Colorado College on Jan. 30 and 31.
Edited by Niall Rosenberg, Jack McCarthy and Pippa Fung.
Reach the reporter at aswift10@asu.edu and follow @alexswiftsports on X.
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