(Photo: Allyson Cummings/WCSN)
There were concerns in the goalie play for the No. 1 Sun Devils in their first game of the National Tournament against the Colorado Buffs. There was never any doubt about the offense.
Behind a career night from Eric Rivard and strong performances from the rest of the top line, Arizona State never trailed en route to a 6-1 victory over Colorado in its first game of the ACHA National Tournament.
Still, the sophomore had bigger things in mind with the first win behind the Sun Devils.
“We got one game down now, we got three more to go,” Rivard said. “There’s no time really to think about scoring. It’s over, I’m happy and I’m glad the boys played well.”
Rivard collected his third hat trick of the year and threw another goal on the pile in the third period to set a new career-high in goals on his way to six points. David Norris also finished with six points, the bulk of which came from five assists. His brother Liam added a goal and three more assists.
Head coach Greg Powers repeated Rivard’s sentiment and praised the first line as a whole.
“The whole line was good. [Rivard] just works well with Liam and David and they carries us tonight,” Powers said.
Another sophomore with a key performance in the ASU’s opening victory was the man between the pipes, Lucas Felbel, as he allowed one goal in his first start since October.
“I’ve been prepared for this all year,” Felbel said. He admitted he was hardly nervous before Friday’s playoff game but was “more nervous coming into that U of A game.”
“I thought he was good,” Powers offered. “I thought he made some good saves and kept us in the game. And then in the second he let in kind of a questionable goal.”
That goal came on a Buffs power play from Kirk Van Arkel. He buried the puck on a shot from the corner on Felbel’s stick-side to get Colorado within one goal at the time.
“I think the goal that I allowed was a little weak but I’ll look at the film and go back to the drawing board and tighten it up for the next one,” Felbel said.
Even with the field starting to get tougher, Powers continues to remain confident in his team.
“I think that’s the perfect example of what I told the guys,” Powers said. “Just stick with it…When we play a full 60 minutes it’s tough for anyone to stick with us.”
The next match for the Sun Devils will be on Sunday between the winner of Adrian College and Lindenwood University with puck drop at 1 p.m. MT.
You can reach the writer on twitter @Dom_Cotroneo
