GREAT FALLS — The University of Providence men’s hockey team rang in 2020 with a big week, picking up two quality wins on the road in its first week back from winter break.
It started last Friday with a disappointing 6-1 loss to the University of Mary, the No. 1 team in the ACHA DII West Region. The No. 2 Argos responded the next night, beating the Marauders 2-1 after freshman defenseman Levi Anderson scored the go-ahead goal with 37 seconds left.
Then on Sunday the Argos notched another win, a 3-2 decision over the Dakota College at Bottineau.
Head coach Jeff Heimel said his team simply came out flat that first game. He’s happy with the response, but he and his team know they can’t continue to do that with a difficult schedule ahead.
"Obviously Friday we came out pretty flat. Six-week break there. We thought we were ready, but that was not the case," Heimel said. "It was big, we play ranked teams pretty much the second half of the season, so it’s a tight race and it’s really important to show up every night. Thought it went well. Would have liked to have played better Friday night, but responded well."
Anderson said the biggest difference between Friday's loss and the subsequent wins was the level of effort the Argos displayed.
"Sometimes we take periods off. Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, we didn't really take any time off and it showed the score," Anderson said. "And Friday we took a couple minutes off here and there and (University of Mary) capitalized on it."
The Argos play Montana State Friday in Bozeman at 7:30 p.m. UP then faces the Bobcats again on Saturday in a neutral-site game in Havre.
