(Photo:Allyson Cummings/WCSN)
In thrilling overtime fashion, Arizona State pulled out the victory against Colorado, 2-1 on Thursday night. Ryan Belonger took advantage on a breakaway chance and shelved the puck in the top-right corner.
“I just knew I had to bury it,” Belonger said.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=nH56RV2iO-4%E2%80%9D
Neither the Sun Devils nor the Buffaloes started their regular goaltenders, as Robert Levin and Alex Palumbo were given a game off in favor of Jordan Gluck and Matt Lechner, respectively.
“He’s had a good week in practice and he has a good pedigree so he pulled it together and made some big saves in a game that I don’t think anyone expected to be that close,” Powers said of his rookie goalie.
The Buffaloes started fast, coming out with more energy than Arizona State, and scoring within the first minute of the game. Gluck skated around the net and an ill-advised attempt to clear the puck resulted in a wide open net for Kirk Van Arkel, who promptly put Colorado up by one.
Throughout the first period, Coach Jeff Neitenbach’s team excelled in sweeping their sticks around, deflecting Sun Devil passes. Arizona State switched up its attack and resorted to dumping the puck into the offensive zone and applying pressure. However, Lechner did not keep the Sun Devils off of the board entirely, when a wide shot from Liam Norris bounced off of the boards right to Belonger, who easily sent it into the net.
Thanks largely in part to the goalies, the second period passed without much to report. Full of back and forth hockey, both sides showcased their defense, eliminating the opponent’s scoring threats. There was a scrum in front of the Colorado net with seconds left, but proved to be insignificant as the Buffalo defenses cleared the puck as time expired.
Physicality dominated the third period. Eric Rivard was positioned in front of the net awaiting a pass when Lechner lunged forward to poke it away and took out Rivard’s legs in process. From there, both teams took shots at each other. Both the Sun Devils and the Buffaloes missed opportunities to unknot the score, but a couple of rips over the crossbar kept the game tied as the buzzer sounded to signal the end of regulation.
Colorado will travel Friday to Tucson to face the Arizona Wildcats. Arizona State hosts Colorado State Friday and Saturday, hoping to tack on two more victories this weekend.
You can reach Christian Coates on Twitter @ChrisJCoates23
