(Photo: Alexis Ramanjulu/WCSN)
The Arizona State ACHA Elite hockey team trounced the Utah State Aggies 8-2 in a chippy contest.
Coming off a 6-1 win over Utah State on Saturday night in goaltender Jordan Gluck’s Elite team debut, the Sun Devils came out of the gates on fire, netting two goals 40 seconds apart in the first 5:15 of the game.
The two teams each received three penalties over the final 12 minutes of the first period, leading to a power play goal for each side and two 4-on-4 goals for Arizona State, with multiple scrums occurring during stoppages of play throughout the period.
By the end of the mayhem, the score after one period was 5-1 in favor of ASU.
The bad blood eventually boiled over as ASU’s Liam Pues and Utah State’s Curtis Cutshall and Rylee Orr were given 10-minute misconduct penalties and were subsequently ejected from the game.
Following the 1-0 win on opening night Sept. 25 against Weber State, the team has won its next three games by the combined score of 22-5.
The Sun Devil score sheet was filled with familiar names, as Elite returners Daniel Gowans, Jordan Leclair, Pues, Jacob Weisman, Ryan Francis, and Wes Starr found twine, with Wilson Housley providing the eighth and final goal.
Starr has been potentially been the best offensive force for head coach Dennis Leclair, as he raised his season stats to three goals and three assists, with two of those scores coming with the man advantage.
Starr credits the team’s desire to succeed as the reason for his early success.
“It’s just a new sense of confidence among the boys. Last year we got knocked out in the semi-finals, and coming back with an expectation of what we have to do,” Starr said. “And I’m playing with some good guys who are making me a better player.”
Lucas Felbel turned in another stellar performance as he turned away 26 of 28 Aggie shots, improving his record to 3-0-0 with a .962 save percentage. With Gluck allowing only one goal in his first game action on Saturday and Al Taylor as a third option, goaltending seems to be the biggest strength of the team once again for coach Leclair.
A cause for concern potentially for the Sun Devils is the health of Pues, who was injured on the hit that eventually earned him his 10-minute misconduct penalty. He was seen during the third period wearing his street clothes with a large ice pack wrapped around his left hip.
The team did not make any statement on Pues’ injury or his status for their next scheduled game, on Oct. 9 against Northern Arizona.
You can reach Bobby Kraus on Twitter @bobbykraus22 or by email bobbykraus@yahoo.com
