ASU D1 Hockey: Sun Devils fall to Sooners in semester opener

(Photo: Allyson Cummings/WCSN)

It was quite an eventful night in Tempe as the No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners handed the No. 1 the Sun Devils their first home loss of the regular season with a score of 5-3.

Both sides of the blue line were clicking for Oklahoma as the offense kept producing points while the defense made it very difficult for the Sun Devils to create scoring opportunities. But the star of the game was Sooner goalie Colin Fernandez.

“The kid played well. He was the difference,” ASU head coach Greg Powers said.“The kid made some big saves, I give him credit. I thought we played a pretty good game we just couldn’t put the puck in the net.”

Most of the game was controlled by the Sooners as the Sun Devils had sparks of momentum. Nearing the end of the second period Sooner forward Bryce Johnson hit Sun Devil defenseman Gianni Mangone into the boards and was given a five-minute minor for checking from behind. Mangone shook it off, but as they were down 2-3 it was either team’s game.

The Sooner penalty kill unit did its job as they killed the penalty while they got Johnson back, who already had one goal and two assists in the game.

Even though Oklahoma had more penalties, when the Sun Devils found the box they found more trouble. ASU’s first penalty turned costly as the Sooners took advantage and scored to put the game almost out of reach halfway through the third period.

Just when ASU was about to lose hope, newcomer David Norris found the back of the net with a backhanded wrist shot right in front of goalie Colin Fernandez.

However, it was too late as the Sun Devils were still down by one. Powers decided to pull goalie Robert Levin with a minute and a half left to play. Even with a man-advantage the Sooner offense found the empty net to put the score to 5-3 to end the game.

Although the Sun Devils received their first home loss of the season there was some good that came out of the game.  Players who have been out for months did not show many signs of rust. Forward Patrick Yudez, who hasn’t played since September, scored the first goal for ASU and was a factor on defense.

“It wasn’t our night,” Powers said. “It’s a loss, it’s not the end of the world. It’s not a loss where we played really poorly. It’s a loss and we’ll come back tomorrow.”

The Sun Devil’s schedule does not get any easier as they welcome the No. 2 Central Oklahoma Bronchos for the next two nights at Oceanside Ice Arena. Catch the live broadcast at http://cronkitesports.com/live-broadcasts.  Puck drop is at 7:30 pm.

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