#6 North Dakota (7-3-0 overall, 3-0-0-1 NCHC) hosts unranked Arizona State (3-6-1 overall, 1-2-1-0 NCHC) at Ralph Engelstad Arena this weekend. This key league series will mark just the fourth and fifth times that the two teams have ever met on the ice.
Here is a look back at the other three game in series history…
The Fighting Hawks traveled to Tempe in January 2025 for a weekend series and dropped the opener by a final score of 4-1. Saturday’s rematch was a back-and-forth affair highlighted by specialty teams goals, including a shorthanded goal and three power play markers. North Dakota got the better of it by scoring an extra attacker goal with just 28 seconds remaining in regulation and a 3-on-3 tally midway through overtime. UND outshot the Sun Devils 64-55 in the two games.
On October 29th, 2022, UND and ASU battled at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the Sun Devils coming back from a 2-0 deficit and prevailing by a final score of 3-2. Former UND netminder T.J. Semptimphelter was the winning goaltender for Arizona State in that contest; he only had to make thirteen saves to secure the victory.
That loss was the second straight destination-game defeat for the Green and White, as they also lost 6-4 to Penn State at Bridgestone Arena (Nashville, Tennessee) on October 30th, 2021.
Prior to those two losses, North Dakota had won four straight showcase events:
2012: Bell MTS Place (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
North Dakota 3, Clarkson 1
2013: T.D. Ameritrade Park (Omaha, Nebraska)
North Dakota 5, Omaha 2
2016: Madison Square Garden (New York City)
North Dakota 4, Boston College 3
2018: Orleans Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)
North Dakota 3, Minnesota 1
UND’s next destination game has been scheduled for Saturday, October 31st, 2026 in Austin, Texas; the opponent for the 2026 Hall Of Fame Game will be Michigan State.
North Dakota has righted the ship after an up-and-down to start the season:
St. Thomas (home and away): 6-2 win, 5-2 win
Minnesota (home): 5-2 win, 1-5 loss
Clarkson (away): 2-5 loss, 1-0 win
#3 Minnesota Duluth (home): 3-4 (OT) loss, 5-1 win
Omaha (away): 7-2 win, 4-1 win
Arizona State opened the season by dropping two home games to Penn State (3-5, 2-4). After hosting the Ice Breaker and winning two games (against Notre Dame and Alaska), the Sun Devils have gone just 1-4-1 over the past three weekends (at Augustana, at Miami, and vs. Colorado College).
Prior to last season, the Sun Devils competed at the Division I level in men’s ice hockey as an independent for nine seasons, with mixed results:
2015-2018 (three seasons): 21-62-8 (.275)
2018-2020 (two seasons): 43-24-4 (.634) and two NCAA tournament bids
2020-2023 (three seasons): 42-54-4 (.440)
2023-2024 (one season): 24-8-6 (.711)
In the fall of 2022, ASU moved from Oceanside Ice Arena to Mullett Arena, a beautiful 5,000 seat rink on the Arizona State University Campus. Mullett, also known as “The Party Barn”, served as a temporary home for the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes before that team’s hockey assets (players, staff, and draft picks) were transferred to the Utah Hockey Club, an expansion franchise based in Salt Lake City.
Last season – Arizona State’s first in the NCHC – the Sun Devils went 21-14 2 overall with a league mark of 12-4-3-5, good for second place. After dispatching the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs in the first round of the conference playoffs, ASU met up with Denver in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinals (St. Paul, Minnesota). The Pioneers would defeat the Sun Devils 4-2 to put an end to an otherwise successful season.
UND is nine years removed from its eighth national championship but has made the national tournament in just four of the past eight seasons. That track record – and some early playoff exits – led to a coaching change, and Dane Jackson is now leading the charge.
In the NCHC preseason poll, UND was picked to finish in third place (behind Western Michigan and Denver), while the Sun Devils were tabbed to end up in fourth.
The NCHC has been the premier hockey conference since its inception, and particularly over the past ten seasons. The nine teams in the league have gone 571-293-86 (.644) in non-conference action since the start of the 2014-15 season and sent fifteen teams to the Frozen Four (UND and Omaha in 2015, UND and Denver in 2016, Denver and Duluth in 2017, Duluth in 2018, Denver and Duluth in 2019, Duluth and St. Cloud State in 2021, Denver in 2022 and 2024, and Denver and Western Michigan in 2025 over that nine-year stretch (there was no national tournament in 2020). Conference members North Dakota (2016), Denver (2017, 2022, 2024), Minnesota Duluth (2018, 2019), and Western Michigan (2025) have won seven of the last nine national titles.
So far this season, the NCHC has won nearly seventy percent of its non-conference games (39-18-1) and has four teams (#3 Minnesota Duluth, #4 Denver, #6 North Dakota, and #9 Western Michigan) positioned in the top ten in the latest rankings, with Colorado College at #17 and the other four teams in the conference all receiving votes. With similar success in the second half of the season, the league could easily send four or even five teams to this year’s NCAA tournament in March.
North Dakota has four non-conference games remaining on the schedule:
November 28-29: at/vs. Bemidji State (CCHA)
January 2-3: vs. Mercyhurst (Atlantic Hockey)
The Fighting Hawks will also play a second exhibition game – against the U.S. Under-18 Team – next Friday, November 21st. UND opened the season with a 7-0 exhibition victory over the University of Manitoba Bisons.
Turning our attention to this weekend’s action…
A half point per game or better is my benchmark for solid offensive production, and ASU head coach Greg Powers boasts just six players who have contributed at that level: junior forward Bennett Schimek (4-9-13), freshman forward Jack Beck (3-2-5 in four games), senior forward Cruz Lucius (8-4-12), sophomore forward Cullen Potter (1-5-6), junior forward Sean McGurn (2-4-6), and junior forward Kyle Smolen (1-4-5).
Bennett Schimek (Mendota Heights, Minnesota) played his first two seasons at Providence before transferring to Tempe prior to the 2024-2025 campaign. He put up a line of 15-22-37 in 35 games with the Sun Devils last year.
Cruz Lucius (Grant, Minnesota) scored 68 points in 70 games over two seasons with the Badgers (2022-2024) before making the jump to the NCHC. Lucius missed the first half of last year with a torn labrum but has scored ten goals and 22 points in his 29 games with the Sun Devils.
North Dakota will have ELEVEN players in the lineup this weekend who have met same offensive threshold: senior forward Ben Strinden (4-8-12), freshman forward Will Zellers (5-4-9), senior forward Ellis Rickwood (1-5-6), sophomore forward Mac Swanson (4-6-10), freshman forward Cole Reschny (2-8-10), senior forward Dylan James (6-2-8), freshman forward Ollie Josephson (2-4-6), sophomore forward Cody Croal (2-3-5), junior defenseman Abram Wiebe (2-6-8), freshman defenseman Keaton Verhoeff (4-2-6), and junior defenseman Jake Livanavage (1-7-8).
UND freshman forward Josh Zakreski (1-2-3 in six games played) was having a promising start to his rookie campaign, but he suffered a lower body injury two weeks ago in practice, had surgery, and is expected to be out long-term.
One key area to watch this weekend is the face-off circle. Through ten games, the Fighting Hawks have won 52.4% of faceoffs, good for 19th in the country. Through their ten games, the Sun Devils are 12th in the nation (53.5%).
UND freshman phenom Cole Reschny has won 81 of his 136 draws (59.6%), while portal transfer Ellis Rickwood (who played the past three years at Clarkson) has won 61.1 percent (107 of 175). Arizona State will counter with juniors Sean McGurn (94 of 152, 61.8%) and Logan Morrell (93 of 163, 57.1%).
In the early part of the 2025-2025 campaign, the Fighting Hawks have far outpaced the Sun Devils in two key puck possession statistics:
North Dakota: 13th in Corsi (54.2%) and 14th in Fenwick (53.8%)
Arizona State: 38th in Corsi (48.1%) and 37th in Fenwick (48.4%)
Corsi measures the share of shot attempts for each team at even strength, while Fenwick measures the share of unblocked shot attempts for each team at even strength.
To this point in the season, the Green and White have had the better of the specialty teams play. North Dakota is a combined +4, with twelve power play goals scored (12 for 44, 27.3%, 11th) and eight power play goals allowed (31 of 39, 79.5%, 33rd). UND has both scored and allowed two shorthanded goals through the first ten games of the season.
Greg Powers’ squad is at a net zero, with twelve power play goals scored (12 for 56, 21.4%, 20th in the country) and eight power play goals allowed (34 of 42, 81.0%, 30th). ASU has not scored a shorthanded goal but has already given up FOUR to opponents.
Through ten games, the Green and White have blocked 120 shots, led by Bennett Zmolek with 20 and Jake Livanavage with 13. Arizona State has blocked an astounding 152 shots in its ten games, with Joel Kjellberg (23), Sam Court (20), and Justin Kipkie (18) leading the charge.
North Dakota’s defensive corps has provided plenty of production from the back end, already notching nine goals and adding 22 assists in 57 combined games (0.44 points per game).
Amazingly, the nine Arizona State blueliners to play this season have yet to score a goal in 66 combined games played, and they have collected just fifteen assists (0.23 points per game). Junior Anthony Dowd leads the way with four helpers, followed by freshman Justin Kipkie and sophomores Joel Kjellberg and Sam Court, who have three apiece.
For the Fighting Hawks, it’s been two juniors – Jake Livanavage (1-7-8) and Abram Wiebe (2-6-8) – and a freshman (Keaton Verhoeff, with four goals and two assists).
Verhoeff is widely expected to go in the top three of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, while Livanavage (4-24-28) and Wiebe (4-20-24) were two of UND’s top four point-getters a season ago.
Sophomore defenseman EJ Emery – a first round pick of the New York Rangers in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft – notched the first two goals of his collegiate career last month in a 5-2 win against Minnesota.
Not only have North Dakota’s defensemen been producing offensively, first-year head coach Dane Jackson has also put together an impressive mix of defenders he can trust in any situation. As a unit, UND’s defensemen have allowed just 23.6 shots on goal per game (6th in the country).
Fighting Hawks’ graduate netminder Gibson Homer (4-3-0, 2.74 goals-against average, .890 save percentage) – who played his first three seasons at Arizona State – started each of the first four games of the season but has split each of the past three weekends with freshman Jan Spunar (3-0-0, 1.01 GAA, .951 SV%, one shutout). With 34 saves and only one goal allowed last Saturday night at Omaha, Gibson Homer delivered his finest performance of the season. I would expect each goaltender to start a game this weekend.
Here is a quick peek at how North Dakota and Arizona State stack up in various categories:
Goals per game: ASU 2.90 (34th of 63 teams); UND 3.90 (5th)
Goals allowed per game: ASU 3.60 (46th); UND 2.40 (17th)
Shooting percentage: ASU 8.9% (42nd); UND 14.2% (4th)
Save percentage: ASU .899 (34th); UND .898 (38th)
Shots on goal/game: ASU 32.7 (16th); UND 27.5 (45th)
Shots on goal allowed/game: ASU 35.5 (58th); UND 23.6 (6th)
The Sun Devils will host North Dakota on January 23rd and 24th, 2026.
Arizona State Team Profile
Head Coach: Greg Powers (11th season at ASU, 154-168-25, .480)
National Ranking: NR/NR
NPI Ranking: 44th
KRACH: 72.1 (42nd)
This Season: 3-6-1 overall, 1-2-1-0 NCHC (6th of 9 teams)
Last Season: 21-14-2 overall (missed NCAA tournament); 12-4-3-5 NCHC (2nd)
2025-26 Season Statistics:
Team Offense: 2.90 goals scored/game – 34th of 63 teams
Team Defense: 3.60 goals allowed/game – 46th of 64 teams
Power Play: 21.4% (12 of 56) – 20th of 63 teams
Penalty Kill: 81.0% (34 of 42) – 30th of 63 teams
Key Players: Junior F Bennett Schimek (4-9-13), Senior F Cruz Lucius (8-4-12), Sophomore F Cullen Potter (1-5-6), Junior F Sean McGurn (2-4-6), Freshman F Jack Beck (3-2-5 in four games), Junior F Kyle Smolen (1-4-5), Sophomore D Joel Kjellberg (0-3-3), Junior D Anthony Dowd (0-4-4), Senior G Connor Hasley (2-4-0, 3.09 GAA, .910 SV%)
North Dakota Team Profile
Head Coach: Dane Jackson (1st season at North Dakota, 7-3-0, .700)
National Rankings: #6/#6
NPI Ranking: 5th
KRACH: 513.5 (5th)
This Season: 7-3-0 overall, 3-0-0-1 NCHC (1st)
Last Season: 21-15-2 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 11-8-4-1 NCHC (5th)
2025-26 Season Statistics:
Team Offense: 3.90 goals scored/game – 5th of 63 teams
Team Defense: 2.40 goals allowed/game – 17th of 63 teams
Power Play: 27.3% (12 of 44) – 11th of 63 teams
Penalty Kill: 79.5% (31 of 39) – 33rd of 63 teams
Key Players: Senior F Ben Strinden (4-8-12), Freshman F Cole Reschny (2-8-10), Freshman F Will Zellers (5-4-9), Senior F Dylan James (6-2-8), Sophomore F Mac Swanson (4-6-10), Freshman F Ollie Josephson (2-4-6), Senior F Ellis Rickwood (1-5-6), Junior D Jake Livanavage (1-7-8), Junior D Abram Wiebe (2-6-8), Freshman D Keaton Verhoeff (4-2-6), Freshman G Jan Spunar (3-0-0, 1.01 GAA, .951 SV%, 1 SO)
Game News and Notes
Arizona State has been outscored 16-7 in third periods this season, while North Dakota has outscored opponents 16-8 in final frames. In 2023-24, Arizona State played its last season as an independent. Despite a record of 24-8-6, the Sun Devils finished in 20th in the Pairwise and missed the NCAA tournament. Greg Powers has been the only head coach in Arizona State Division I men’s hockey history. Powers, a former goaltender from the Sun Devils’ club level (WCHL/ACHA) days, graduated from ASU in 1999 and is a member of the Arizona State Athletic Hall of Fame.
Media Coverage
Both games will be broadcast live on Midco Sports Network and will also be available via webcast at NCHC.tv. Friday’s opener will also be on TSN5 in Canada. All UND men’s hockey games, home and away, can be heard on stations across the Fighting Hawks Radio Network as well as through the iHeart Radio app. Puck drop is set for 7:07 p.m. Central Time on Friday night and 6:07 p.m. Central Time on Saturday night.
Social Media
Keep up with the action live during all UND hockey games by following @UNDmhockey and @UNDInsider on Twitter. Fans can also read the action via Brad Schlossman’s live chat on the Grand Forks Herald website.
The Prediction
Fans should expect Arizona State’s best effort as the Sun Devils visit the Ralph for the first time. ASU has some speed and top and skill not unlike what the Bulldogs put on display at REA two weeks ago. I forsee plenty of scoring opportunities for both sides this weekend, with North Dakota’s forward depth and experience on the blue line playing a major factor in securing two victories. UND 3-2, 5-2.
As always, thank you for reading. I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions.