(Photo: Riley Trujillo/WCSN)
During its record-setting season, resiliency has been a prominent trait of this Arizona State hockey team.
After suffering a loss to Clarkson in the Desert Hockey Classic, the Sun Devils rebounded the next day and tied with No.3 Minnesota State. The team won four in a row after suffering an embarrassing sweep at Nebraska-Omaha in late November. It won in overtime in the second game of the series against Harvard and Penn State, both on the road.
And that continued Saturday, when ASU fought through a tough first period and shutout Boston College 2-0 to complete the weekend sweep of the famed East Coast program.
The Sun Devils were out-shot 32-27 against the Eagles Saturday, but a masterful performance from goalie Joey Daccord and a second period surge made up for it. Daccord saved all 32 shots he faced and now leads the NCAA in shutouts with six.
“Joey Daccord stole that game,” said coach Greg Powers after the win.
Despite Boston College’s fast offensive attack dominating the Sun Devils in the first, a power play with 14:55 left in second gave Eagles goaltender Joseph Woll his first pressure faced of the game. That momentum carried over after the power play was killed, and ASU scored after Johnny Walker set up Brent Gruber beautifully from behind the net.
“Ninety percent of our offense is generated from below the goal line,” Powers said. “That’s exactly how we scored the 5-on-5 goal from Walks [Johnny Walker] to Grubs [Brent Gruber].”
The first period though, was rough. The Sun Devils were out-shot 14-3 and failed to convert on a 5v3 power play. Boston College’s speed looked like it was plaguing the Sun Devils again. Shot after shot was fired at the net, but Daccord stood tall. Powers thought BC came out somewhat slower than last night; the Eagles didn’t start as prolifically as they did Friday night, but a power play changed that as Daccord made four saves in those two minutes.
“I don’t think they even had a good start today,” Powers said. “They looked a little bit sluggish, but as soon as they found their legs, you could see their speed.”
The Sun Devils did do a better job offensively than Friday though, as they kept the puck in the offensive zone more, but missed the net completely on multiple shots, contributing to their low shot count.
After going up 1-0, Boston College responded with heavy pressure. A power play gave them a spark, and Daccord made multiple saves while getting shaken up by a stick to the face. Time was called as the medical crew checked him out, but Daccord was ruled fine and returned to action. Just after that, Daccord saw another Boston College flurry, where the defense gave up multiple open shots. Some ended up blocked as a result though, something Daccord was very thankful for.
“I can think of five or six unbelievable blocked shots today,” said Daccord. He specifically mentioned freshman Jarrod Gourley’s effort when it came to defensemen laying themselves on the line.
The last period saw the Sun Devils strive to give Daccord some insurance, and with 12:33 left to play, they did. A power play gave ASU a man advantage, and with open ice in front of him, freshman PJ Morocco, who delivered the game-winning goal in ASU’s series-opening win Friday night, fired a shot at the net. The shot deflected off Woll’s pad and ended up with Steenn Pasichnuk, who whisked it over to Jordan Sandhu, who then slid it in behind Woll from the right side of the net.
“It just so happened that it landed right in front of me, and I just kind of held the guy off and saw Sandy [Jordan Sandhu] was wide open,” Pasichnuk said of the goal. “He made a great play.”
That effectively ended the game. Boston College made little rushes late, but all were one-timers which Daccord was ready for.
Powers thought the third period was ASU’s best of the night, his team overcoming a slow start to secure an important sweep in its second-to-last home series of the season.
“I loved how our guys controlled the play,” he said. “We played our game. [I] really liked how we closed it out.”
