(Photo:Brooke Faber/WCSN)
The Sun Devils brought their 9-1 record and No. 1 overall ranking in the West Coast conference into battle against the Denver Pioneers, netting goals from seven different players in a 9-1 victory.
One of the big storylines coming into the matchup was the return of Justin Butler, who is the all-time scoring leader in school history for the Elite team.
The first period started off with a bang for the Sun Devils, as they scored four goals in the first 5:21. Daniel Gowans and Jordan LeClair started off the scoring with wrist shots that found the back of the net. They each netted quick goals and took advantage of some lackluster defense from the Pioneers. LeClair’s goal came short-handed, making it just the second short- handed goal scored by the Sun Devils all season.
While the early start got them going, the Sun Devils scoring didn’t stop there. ASU added two more goals in the period, from freshman forward Ryan McNeely and senior defenseman Zac Inzer. It was McNeely’s seventh goal of the season and Inzer’s second.
The high-powered Sun Devils offense became too much for Pioneers goalie Beau Lewis to handle, and he was pulled for backup Geoffrey Dohrman. The new netminder held the Sun Devils scoreless the rest of the period. However, ASU goaltender Alex Taylor did the same, resulting in a 4-0 score at the end of the period.
The second period was much of the same story, as ASU added four more goals to raise the score to 8-0. Steven Casaceli scored two goals, including a beautiful backhand early on, raising his season total to six, while Zac Inzer netted his second goal of the game.
Justin Butler also contributed a goal in the period in his return to play. It was his third goal of the season and gave him a whopping 11 points in just seven games.
The story of the period, however, was the physicality from both teams. Denver committed three minor penalties while the Sun Devils committed two. Tyler Smith and John Randall, the leaders in penalty minutes on the season for Denver and ASU respectively, each picked up a minor for boarding, which resulted in both Inzer’s and Butler’s goal.
The third period had a similar theme to the second, as it was filled with penalties. The Sun Devils committed seven violations while Denver committed two. Since the game started primarily with attacks on the net, it was a surprise to see such a quick turn into a physical battle.
During the period, John Randall committed two consecutive penalties and each team had a player ejected. Michael McKelvey was given the boot for the Pioneers, while Jordan LeClair was tossed for Arizona State.
Despite the banging going on across the ice, there were a pair of goals scored. Adam Ehrlich scored off a beautiful pass from Liam Pues to make it 9-0. Denver avoided the shutout thanks to a late power-play goal by Christos Koukis, their leading goal scorer on the season.
An eventful matchup concluded with a Sun Devils 9-1 throttling, putting their record at 10-1 for the season. Denver fell to 6-7 with the loss.
The two teams will play the second game of the two game series tomorrow night at 7:30. You can watch the live broadcast at http://cronkitesports.com/live-broadcasts.
