(Photo: Allyson Cummings/WCSN)
“To get to the national tournament you’ve got to be able to hang with the big boys,” said Niagara head coach Larry Brzeckowski before the opening weekend.
Even after suffering a 3-4 loss at Oceanside Saturday night, his team was able to keep in stride with the defending ACHA national champs. But ASU (2-0) would still sneak past Niagara (0-2) with a series sweep after sophomore forward Ryan Ostertag’s game winning goal with 1:50 before the buzzer.
“Our guys have got to get it through their heads that they’re going to get everybody’s best effort all season,” said ASU head coach Greg Powers. “And we got their best effort.”
Tensions from last night’s opener finally came to a broil with both Sun Devil and Purple Eagle matching punches. Coming off a 3-8 loss Friday night, a frustrated Niagara team drew first blood. Junior forward Austin Wharry cashed in on a pass from teammate Josh Pietrantonio, beating ASU netminder Robert Levin with 1:33 left in the first. Wharry would find twine again at the end of the third to keep the Eagles alive.
Niagara faced a similar start last year against Robert Morris, leaving with two L’s on their record. Coach Brzeckowski says these situations are the perfect opportunity of working on fundamental hockey.
“There’s no team like Arizona State in the league. It shows the guys where they got to get to be a top-five, top-ten team. If we make the national tournament we’re going to come against teams like this,” he said.
The new recruits overall looked sharp in their Sun Devil debuts. Freshman defenseman Gianni Mangone wouldn’t give Niagara any breathing room, pulling the trigger on a slapshot past goalie Mike Parda at the opening of the second. Fellow blue-liner Ed McGovern would also chip the puck past Parda, who capped the night with 44 saves. Both Mangone and McGovern, along with forward Connor Mailey, earned their first-goal game pucks this weekend.
“Gianni was probably our best overall defenseman all weekend. The rookies are off to a good start, now the vets need to step up,” said Powers.
Sophomore forward Toomy Cooney also contributed to the 2-0 start, netting a goal on both nights. He should be a player to keep eyes on, anchoring between Michael Cummings and Chris Burkemper.
“We’re in the business of winning hockey games- and we just won two. We’ll go back to the drawing board and go into next weekend,” said Powers.
The Sun Devils have another series at home to start off the year, as they take on the West Chester Golden Rams next Friday. You can catch the broadcast live at at http://cronkitesports.com/live-broadcasts/.
