WILLISTON, N.D. – The #18 University of Providence men's hockey team defeated #9 Williston State 6-2 Tuesday evening on day two of a three-game road trip.
The Argos got off to a hot start, with
Cody Hendrickson scoring off the assist from
Cooper Page a minute into the game.
Leo Felt expanded the lead to two with a goal with seven minutes left in the first off of
Ty Alger's assist. The Jacks cut the lead to one with a goal before the end of the first period. Hendrickson assisted
Kyler Mack in the second period to make the lead 3-1 heading into the finalperiod.
The Jacks cut the lead to one three minutes into the third period, but
Will Wright 15 seconds later off the assist from Page.
Liam Carvalho and
Reed Link both scored the final two goals for the Argos to secure the victory.
"It was a different game than last night," head coach
Jeff Heimel said. "They did a good job of bottling us up and taking away a lot of room. We had to fight through some really strong defensive play on their end. They just really took away a lot of our time and space to make plays. It was a different game in that respect. We were patient and just kept at it until we broke loose."
The game marks the second of three games in a row for the Argos. The Argos
fell to the top-seeded University of Mary on Monday, and will take on Dakota College of Bottineau on Wednesday in Sidney, Mont.
The Argos will also host the University of Mary on Friday and Saturday in Great Falls, equaling a total of five games in six days. Despite the grueling schedule, Heimel believes the week is good preparation for the National Tournament, where the team would have to play five games in five days.
"Naturally guys are going to get a little bit sore," Heimel said. "We've been trying to manage their energy level with the way we've been playing. We've been pressuring different areas of the ice and to steal a basketball term, calling off the full court press. We're being efficient with our energy. We still got plenty of energy left in the tank. If we can't handle this than we can't handle what we need to handle in the end."
Tomorrow's game against Dakota College of Bottineau will again have more playoff implications. The Argos are currently ranked #18, two spots out of the ACHA D2 playoffs if they began today. Williston State is currently ranked #9, and Bottineau is currently ranked #5. A win over Bottineau would really help the Argos slide into the Top 16.
"I'm excited for tomorrow," Heimel said. "We'll have to take away Bottineau's speed, especially from their forwards. They have given us trouble at times. I think we've got to fix our break out. We seemed to struggle tonight breaking the puck out. We've got to be efficient and smart in our play."
The Argos will take on the Jacks tomorrow at 6 p.m. in Sidney, Mont.
