The Dons showed a lot of spunk and good deal of improvement on Wednesday night against the always tough University H.S. program.

Ian Saftner set the tone for the Dons from the get-go and had a commanding game at faceoff all night winning 13 of 19 draws. Crisp passes and good ball movement along with some aggressive defense had the boys within striking distance for much of the game. The return of defensive lead and co-captain Collin Malmquist injected renewed energy to the team tonight.

The Red Devils scored the first goal of the night in the first quarter but the Dons quickly responded at the start of the second with a nice shot from Marshall Anderson assisted by a scrappy pass from Griffin Rotondo to tie the game 1-1. The Devils had 2 quick goals and again the Dons answered back with another goal from Anderson followed by a beautiful shot from Brody Darin to tie the game at the half 3-3. 

Unfortunately, University dominated the third quarter with 5 unanswered goals and by then much of the damage was done. But in the fourth quarter, the Dons fought back with tough defense from Davis, Malmquist, and Deignan and a long distance strike that hit the back of the net from Brody Darin. And for the second game in a row, freshman Caleb Mason scored a beautiful goal, too.

All in all, the Dons may have put together their best three quarters of the season against a tough University team. Now it’s just a matter of stringing it together for that final quarter. No doubt it’s going to happen. Watch out Casa Grande, the Dons are coming for you. Let’s do this, Dons!