A strong third period fell just short for the University of Minnesota Duluth Friday night inside Mullet Arena in Tempe, Ariz. against No. 19 Arizona State University. The Bulldogs, who pulled within a single goal after they struck twice in the span of a minute, ultimately had their comeback denied after the Sun Devils made it 5-3 with 10 seconds left in the contest.
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ASU used a power play to score at the 10:10 mark of the first period, but just 52 seconds into the second frame, Dominic James equalized with a one-timer off a pass from Max Plante.
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The Sun Devils responded with another goal at 5:14 of the second, and then netted back-to back goals to open the third period to stretch their lead to 4-1. But UMD doubled down with two tallies of their own, starting with an entry pass into the ASU zone from his brother Zam Plante along the boards that Max Plante drove to the net and buried, his first goal of the season at the 7:58 mark. A mere 1:01 later, James struck again, this time shoveling home a pass from Anthony Menghini at the doorstep to cut the Sun Devils lead to one.
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UMD pulled goaltender Zach Sandy, who had come in for Klayton Knapp earlier in the period, to make a final push to draw the game even. But ASU goaltender Luke Pavicich found ways to keep the puck out of the Sun Devil net, and then, with time running out, ASU threw the puck long for an empty net goal and the 5-3 final.
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Knapp, who started the first game of his Bulldog career, made 20 saves in 47:58 of action, but was stuck with the first four ASU goals. Sandy had three stops in his 10:36 of duty. Pavicich had 35 saves for the Sun Devils, who were outshot by the Bulldogs 38-28, but dominated in the face-off dot with 34 wins to UMD's 22.
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The Bulldogs (5-9-0, 2-5-0) and Sun Devils (7-7-1, 4-3-0) will go at it again tomorrow night at 6:00 p.m. CT.
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BULLDOG NOTES: Dominic James posted his third two-goal game of the season Friday night … the senior forward James now has a team-high nine goals and is just one shy of tying his collegiate season-best effort of 10 set his sophomore season … it also marks his seventh multiple point game – meaning more than half of the games he's skated in this season he's put up two or more points … with a goal and an assist, Max Plante rang up his second multiple point game in just four outings … Plante has five points (1g, 4a) in just four total skates this season.
