ACHA Hockey: Arizona State Wins Nail-Biting Thriller 4-2 Over In-State Rival Arizona

(Photo: Niall Cooper/WCSN)

In a physical, penalty-filled, Territorial Cup battle between the Arizona Wildcats and the Arizona State Sun Devils, ASU grinded out a 4-2 victory over its in-state rival.

“I think we got some really dirty goals today that we haven’t got in the past which I was really pleased with,” head coach Josh Brown said. “Our overall execution needs to get better. Our guys know that.”

One particular area of struggle for both teams was the power play. Both teams were a combined 1/12 on the man advantage. ASU had a total of nine power plays, but it was only able to cash in on one.

“[We] just [need to] continue to get pucks to the net and take away his vision, so he can’t see those initial shots and get the dirty goals,” Brown said. “Like I said, we had a couple of those tonight, but we’re looking for more of that.”

The lone ASU power play goal would come from the captain, Ryan Ostertag. Ostertag wristed it past Arizona goaltender Garrett Patrick with traffic in front of net.

“The reason that went in is because my brother took away the goalie’s eyes there, I just saw all net,” Ostertag said. “The goalie, I could tell, couldn’t even see anything so I kind of just put it where it was open.”

Ostertag’s power play conversion made it 3-1 Sun Devils after U of A’s Brian Hogan had cut the ASU lead in half at 2-1.

ASU opened the scoring of this game with a goal from Michael Cummings, his fifth of the season, followed by a rooftop backhander by Seth Lind for a 2-0 lead. However, U of A fought back and even brought the score to 3-2 with an early third period goal by Matthew Armenti.

The 3-2 score held for much of the third period, as both teams went after it toe-to-toe.

Zach Kowalchuk, playing in his first game against the Wildcats, noted the particular tempo of the rivalry game.

“You really can’t get that kind of competition when you’re playing teams from Oklahoma or Missouri or something,” Kowalchuk said. “Definitely nice to have that in-state.”

ASU ultimately sealed the Wildcats’ fate at 19:33 of the third, when Dylan Ostertag received the puck on Patrick’s doorstep, moving it from his forehand to his backhand and burying it in an open cage.

ASU moves to 5-1 on their season as the Wildcats fall to 4-3.

Takeaways:

Goaltenders: Felbel and Patrick

Both goalies were nothing short of spectacular in the contest, stopping a combined 66 shots on goal. ASU starting goalie Lucas Felbel and Patrick frustrated their respective opposing power play units, with Patrick conceding the only power play goal.

Felbel, in particular, had the better night for the Sun Devils, including a miraculous glove snag on a clear breakaway by U of A’s Tyler Griffith about midway through the second.

“He’s a rock in net,” Kowalchuk said. “He’s a great guy and he really comes up big when we need him to and he hasn’t failed us yet.”

Including a 10-minute game misconduct, there were 38 penalty minutes in this hockey game.

But should we be surprised? With consideration given to the fact this is one of the most intense rivalries between two schools in the country, it probably should not come as anything out of the ordinary. Those familiar with the rivalry will likely tell you this is typical.

Both U of A and ASU like to try and get under each other’s skin and retaliation is not an uncommon sighting.

These two teams meet again in less than 24 hours, so expect yet another physical game filled with additional pushing and shoving. The officials always have a tough task when these two rivals hit the ice.

What’s Next:

Arizona and Arizona State meet again tomorrow night at Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m.

It will be nothing new between these two teams, as bad blood will continue to dominate this series well beyond tomorrow’s contest.

“They’ve beaten us one time in the last seven years, what’s there to respect?” Cummings said.

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