ASU Men’s Hockey: Despite NCAA Tournament berth, Sun Devils left with work to do after first-round exit

In a season where Arizona State consistently beat teams that were presumed better than it, Saturday night was a stark transformation. The Quinnipiac Bobcats, ranked No. 6 in the PairWise rankings and a presumed National Championship contender, dominated ASU early in Allentown, Penn., on Saturday night before holding on late in a 2-1 win.

The status that ASU has risen to over the course this season, the “We’re not afraid of anyone and can beat anyone” mantra, was a common theme throughout the rest of the NCAA Tournament. American International, a team that ASU swept in Tempe not long ago, pulled off one of the greatest upsets in tournament history by beating No. 1 overall seed St. Cloud State Friday. Fellow No. 4 seed Providence, a team that got hot late in the regular season and found themselves in the tournament, came back from a 3-0 deficit in the first period and ended up winning 6-3 over Minnesota State, another top seed.

A Sun Devil win would have added to the madness.

Instead, ASU had the opposite of one of those performances on Saturday. The Sun Devils started slow against Quinnipiac, which was faster, more physical, handled pucks better and established a flow to their game early to take a 1-0 lead just 3:54 into the game. Still, ASU didn’t respond. The Sun Devils managed just two shots in the second period. Pucks were rarely sent toward the net, and if they were, a wall named Andrew Shortridge stood in the way in QU’s goal.

“I just feel like we had a lack of energy in the first,” said ASU coach Greg Powers. “In the second, they took it to us and they took it to us really good.”

The Bobcats had possession of the puck for what felt like the almost all of the first two periods. The Sun Devil offense, which had leading scorer Johnny Walker back, generated few chances to counter.

Sure, the final score was only a one-goal deficit, and ASU had a flurry of chances late in the game, including a couple short-handed after Jarrod Gourley’s crippling five-minute major penalty. But it was all too little too late. The Sun Devils’ sluggish first 40 minutes came back to haunt them. Their six-minute burst at the end, the one that saw Brinson Paschinuk skate laterally across the ice and snipe one in on the left side of the net (a classic goal from the junior co-captain), wasn’t enough.

“There in the last few minutes, we had a couple pretty good chances and in the third I thought we were great and had a chance to win the game,” Powers said.

Though ASU didn’t get totally dominated on Saturday, it dropped to 2-6-1 this season against team’s that made the NCAA Tournament. While the Sun Devils, once again playing a hard schedule, collected some wins over prestigious programs this year – with victories over Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, Princeton, and split with Penn State – they struggled against the top teams in the nation this year. ASU’s results were good enough to grab national media attention, turning the narrative in college hockey from “ASU has a hockey team?” to “ASU is in the NCAA Tournament!” But the Sun Devils didn’t look quite ready to make a deep push into the postseason.

Earlier this week, Powers touted Quinnipiac the way he does most opponents, complimenting the Bobcats’ coaching, high-end skill, and work ethic.

This time, those points proved to be true, and ASU couldn’t conjure up enough late offense to counter it. For most of Saturday’s game, the Bobcats were just a little bit better – one of the few times this magical year the Sun Devils were outplayed.

“Our guys deserve to be here because they are as good as anybody and we have proven that all year,” Powers said. “…I think that the takeaway is that we all know that we are going to be back and it will be sooner than later.”

The words “this group” have been uttered by practically every Sun Devil hockey player or coach this season. “This group”, with these seniors, these massive junior contributors, those scoring numbers, is not something that can be replicated. So when Powers mentioned that “this group” has now elevated the program a year ahead, and set the expectation to be almost annual NCAA Tournament berths, it asks a lot of the next ASU groups to follow. This Sun Devil team isn’t here without the 2014 ACHA Champions. A lot of struggle came in between that team and this one, and after a first-round exit postseason exit, there will be more work for future Sun Devil teams to come.