(Photo: Susan Wong/WCSN)
No. 13 Arizona State’s offense is heating up at just the right time.
After last weekend’s sweep over Rochester Institute of Technology, the Sun Devils (15-8-3) own the sixth-best scoring offense in the country with 85 goals in 26 games.
The 11 goals over the two-game home series showcased the growing confidence in the Sun Devils’ offensive depth. Head coach Greg Powers is happy with the emerging production from his middle-six.
“It’s huge,” Powers said. “It’s a sign we are peaking at the right time.”
Sophomore forward PJ Marrocco is leading the charge on the second line, tallying a career-high nine goals and 16 points. With seven points in his last seven games, Marrocco has settled into a rhythm with his counterparts Austin Lemieux and Filips Buncis, who are each three points away from reaching their personal bests as Sun Devils.
“Our team is gelling really nicely,” Marrocco said. “At the beginning of the year, we knew we had the talent to do it. Now, we’re just putting the pieces of the puzzle together.”
The third line of junior Willie Knierim, senior Tyler Busch and senior Brett Gruber has also found its scoring touch.
The trio of upperclassmen combined for three goals, 10 assists and a +15 rating against the Tigers. The recipe for their recent scoring success has been sticking to the basics.
“We keep it simple,” Knierim said. “Busch, Gruber and I keep the puck down low. I thought Busch and Gruber were amazing this weekend. Gruber was making plays all over the ice. Busch assisted on both game-winning goals. Those big-time plays are winning us hockey games.”
While Busch is on a three-game point streak with six assists, Gruber has picked up consecutive multi-point performances for the first time in his collegiate career.
Knierim has been on a roll with six goals in his last seven games. His 10 goals rank second among Sun Devil skaters, trailing junior Johnny Walker by five.
“Whenever you produce and help a team, it feels really good,” Knierim said. “We’re trending in the right direction, so we just got to keep it going.”
ASU’s offense faces a tough task against No. 8 Clarkson University (16-5-2) on Friday and Saturday night at Cheel Arena in Potsdam, New York.
Sitting atop their conference standings (10-3 ECAC), the Golden Knights have been very strong on defense this season.
Clarkson has allowed 1.87 goals against per game, which ranks third lowest in the country behind No. 1 Cornell and No. 3 Minnesota State.
Despite surrendering a power-play goal to Harvard last game, CU’s penalty kill leads the NCAA at 92.1%, thanks in large part to the new addition of graduate goaltender Frank Marrotte.
Appearing in all 23 games, Marrotte holds a 16-5-2 record with a 1.77 goals against average and a .938 save percentage, which both rank among the top-five of NCAA Division I goaltenders.
Although CU’s defensive numbers stand front and center, the Sun Devils are preparing for the top-20 showdown by focusing on their own game.
“It’s going to take simple, hard hockey,” Powers said. “Whoever beats the other team at their own game will win.”
“We got to focus on what we do,” Knierim said. “We can’t be stressing about what about they do. At the end of the day, if we’re not going, we are not going to beat teams. We just have to work our hardest and execute.”
