Not much of a fight from the Fighting Hawks
The Minnesota State men’s hockey team dominated the University of North Dakota Saturday after an unfortunate loss Friday in their second home series at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center.
In Friday’s battle, UND snatched victory from the Mavs with a 3-2 win despite the Mavs dominating the Fighting Hawks and having a 2-0 lead. However, the Mavs shut down the Fighting Hawks Saturday, splitting the series with a 3-0 win.
The energy was high as a sea of purple and gold, and green and white crowded the arena to watch what was sure to be a weekend of thrilling competition. Anticipation flooded the building, as fans waited for the battle to begin.
The Mavs claimed a strong lead over UND as Josh Groll scored two goals early in the first and second periods with the assistance of Adam Eisele and Rhett Pitlick.
They continued to exert pressure on UND, maintaining control of the puck and firing shots left and right. Late in the second period, Zach Krajnik fired what was expected to be the final nail in UND’s coffin. However, that would not be the case.
After an official review, the goal was disallowed, and Eisele received a five-minute major penalty for contact to the head and a game misconduct.
As the Mavs were about to kill off the penalty, UND came back in the third period with three goals, ending the game 3-2 and snatching the win from the Mavs.
Despite Friday’s tough loss, the Mavs didn’t let it affect their game and came Saturday to show they can compete with any team in the nation.
“It didn’t matter the sacrifices needed, that’s just this group. We probably played a cleaner game a night ago, but we played a gutsier, connected game. There was a lot of will in this one,” said Head Coach, Luke Strand regarding the Mavs Saturday win.
Once again, energy was high as the intensity flooded the arena. The Mavs came out strong, confident and with a hunger for victory.
Early in the first, the crowd erupted as Eisele fired a beautiful top-shelf goal, putting the Mavs on top and showing Friday’s major penalty wouldn’t get him down.
The Mavs maintained constant pressure on UND’s defense, firing shots left and right and battling every step of the way.
In the middle of the second period, Groll netted his third goal of the weekend with assistance once more from Eisele and Pitlick in a battle in front of UND’s net.
The Fighting Hawks were under more pressure as they now had a bigger gap to close. In an attempt to come back, they pulled their goalie, but Brian Carrabes shatter their dreams of victory by scoring on the empty net.
The Mavs offensive dominance was not the only reason they came out victorious Saturday. A huge part of their win was also the defensive sacrifices made to prevent scoring opportunities.
The team ended the night with a total of 34 blocked shots. Defensemen, Mason Wheeler and Luke Ashton made noticeable efforts to keep the Mavs in the game.
Wheeler ended the night with seven blocks and Ashton threw himself in front of the puck on a UND breakaway to prevent a potential goal.
Fans can catch the next Maverick home series this weekend against the University of Nebraska Omaha at the Mayo Clinic Health System Events Center.
Photo Caption: The Minnesota State Mavericks took on the no. 5 University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks, where the Fighting Hawks won 3-2 on Friday, and the Mavericks won 3-0 on Saturday. The Mavericks will take on the University of Nebraska Omaha this weekend in another home series. (Courtesy Maverick Athletics)
Write to emma.benjamin@mnsu.edu