(Photo: Gabrielle Mercer/WCSN)
Last week, Arizona State hockey head coach Greg Powers chalked up the Sun Devils struggles to a lack of talent compared to the other teams in Division I.
This weekend, the lack of talent showed when ASU was outplayed in consecutive games against Bemidji State, extending its losing streak to 13 games. The Sun Devils have not won an NCAA game since Nov. 14.
The back-to-back shutouts by the Beavers means ASU has now been shutout in its last four games.
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Game 1: Bemidji State 5, Arizona State 0
After a longer than normal stay in Arizona, the Sun Devils headed back on the road, this time to Minnesota, to play a BSU team that was hovering around .500.
The headlines before the game consisted of ASU’s leading scorer Jordan Masters getting scratched. It was not revealed whether Masters was in fact hurt or just getting rest, but he did not play in game two either.
The Sun Devils surrendered Ruslan Pedan’s first two goals of the season, which came about six minutes apart in the second period. Jay Dickson also added a pair of goals against goalie Ryland Pashovitz. Pashovitz delivered a solid outing in net but did not get much help from his defensemen. He saved 29 of 34 shots that came his way.
ASU’s offensive chances were few and far between, as the team managed just 17 shots against Beavers goalie Michael Bitzer. In what has been a common theme this season, the Sun Devils were outshot by double-digits. In fact, no player had more than two shots in the game.
Game 2: Bemidji State 2, Arizona State 0
Game two was not quite the slaughter that game one was, but ASU’s inability to mount many scoring chances kept it out of the game from the beginning.
Robert Levin started in place of Pashovitz and kept ASU within striking distance, allowing just two third period goals. However, ASU’s 18 shots were far from what the team wanted.
To add to the struggles, the Sun Devils were 0-for-5 on the power play, even getting a big chance towards the end when Ruslan Pedan was charged with checking for behind and followed that up with a game misconduct and an ejection. ASU pulled its goalie to give the team a two man advantage, but could not net a goal when needed.
One positive for the Sun Devils was that they committed just three penalties, and the Beavers were 0-for-3 on the power play.
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The pair of games puts BSU above .500 at 10-9-4, while ASU is now 5-19-0.
The Sun Devils will get a break from NCAA play for a short time next week, as the ACHA Ohio Bobcats will visit Oceanside Ice Arena for two games.
You can contact Jacob Janower via e-mail or on Twitter @JanowerJacob
