A strong third period fell just short of the University of Minnesota Duluth against No. 19 Arizona State University on Friday night at Mullet Arena in Tempe, Arizona. The Bulldogs, who came within a minute of scoring twice, were ultimately denied their comeback after the Sun Devils made it 5-3 with 10 seconds left in the game.

ASU used a power play to score with 10:10 left in the first period, but just 52 seconds into the second frame Dominic James equalized with a one-timer after a pass from Max Plante.

Here is the rookie striker’s first goal Max Plante‘s Bulldog career! pic.twitter.com/Jwc8ZM4JLt

— UMD Men’s Hockey (@UMDMensHockey) December 7, 2024

The Sun Devils responded with another goal at 5:14 of the second period and then scored back-to-back goals to open the third period and extend their lead to 4-1. But UMD doubled down with two scores of its own, starting with a pass from his brother into the ASU zone Zam Plante along the boards that Max Plante shot to the net and buried his first goal of the season at 7:58. Just 1:01 minutes later, James struck again, this time firing a pass into the goal Anthony Menghini at the front door to cut the Sun Devils’ lead to one.

James has his THIRD two-goal game of the season!! pic.twitter.com/7ZC7IR7B5f

— UMD Men’s Hockey (@UMDMensHockey) December 7, 2024

UMD retired the goalie Zach Sandywho had come Klayton Knapp at the start of the quarter in a final attempt to tie the game. But ASU goaltender Luke Pavicich found ways to keep the puck out of the Sun Devil net, and with time running out, ASU threw the puck wide for an empty net and the final score of 5-3.

Knapp, starting the first game of his Bulldog career, made 20 saves in 47:58 minutes but was caught on the first four ASU goals. Sandy had three stops in his 10:36 minute run time. Pavicich made 35 saves for the Sun Devils, who were defeated 38-28 by the Bulldogs, but dominated the faceoff with 34 wins compared to UMD’s 22 wins.

The Bulldogs (5-9-0, 2-5-0) and Sun Devils (7-7-1, 4-3-0) will face off again tomorrow night at 6:00 p.m. CT.

Bulldog Notes: Dominic James scored his third two-goal game of the season on Friday night…senior forward James now has a team-high nine goals and is one step away from matching his collegiate season-high of 10 goals from his sophomore season…it is too his seventh multi-point game – meaning he has scored two or more points in more than half of the games he has played this season… with a goal and an assist, Max Plante posted his second multi-point game in just four appearances…Plante has a total of five points (1g, 4a) in just four skates this season.