(Photo: Kyle McCartney/WCSN)
There was a flood in Hamilton, New York on Saturday night.
The white jerseys of Arizona State Men’s Hockey engulfed senior defenseman Tim Theochardis on the ice at Colgate’s home arena after the Sun Devil scored the game-winning overtime goal to take down the Raiders 4-3.
The d-man out of Ontario scored just 23 seconds into the three-on-three overtime period after being set up from a face-off win by senior forward Sean Dhooghe.
From the puck drop, Saturday night’s game felt as if it was going to be a fight to the finish, even after the Sun Devils were obliterated 8-3 by the same Colgate team just 21 hours prior.
The first period saw no goals on the board, after both junior goaltender Ben Kraws of ASU and sophomore goalie Carter Gylander of Colgate made highlight-worthy saves and stopped a combined 22 shots.
However, the Sun Devils came out of the first intermission hot. Senior forward Jack Becker was able to put one past Gylander, followed by a power play goal by senior forward Johnny Walker, putting ASU up 2-0 just four minutes into second period play.
The remaining 16 minutes of the second period were quiet for the Sun Devils’ offense. Colgate’s offense, on the other hand, was able to score on Kraws with a power play goal from sophomore forward Alex Young.
In Kraws’ second consecutive game seeing action for the Sun Devils, he finished the night with a total of 29 saves. However, Kraws did allow three goals on the night, with two crucial ones coming in the third period.
Even though the Raiders went up 3-2 with just seven minutes remaining in the game, ASU seemingly felt a sense of urgency to not give up their second consecutive game.
After a hooking call on Colgate junior forward Ethan Manderville, ASU had a man advantage and was able to capitalize with a goal by freshman forward Josh Doan, which tied up the game at three. The goal sent the game to overtime, where ASU was quickly able to put Colgate away thanks to Theochardis’ goal.
Following the thrilling victory, the Sun Devils will make the long flight back to Tempe to get ready for their next game: St. Thomas on Oct. 29.
