(Photo Courtesy – Hailey Rogalski)
They say you can only flirt with fire for so long before it burns you. Arizona State Men’s Hockey (11-13-0) learned that the hard way on Friday night.
The Sun Devils staved off No. 17 Minnesota State’s (13-9-1) red-hot powerplay – the eighth-best in the nation – six times and even scored a shorthanded goal. However, down a score late in the game, the penalties finally caught up to ASU, as a trip by senior defenseman Jacob Semik all but sealed a victory for the Mavericks.
“The kill has been tremendous, they were really good tonight,” Head coach Greg Powers said. “The guys got to find a way to stay out of the box… way too many stick penalties. It was a focus, we harped on it all week, and it was a fitting way to end the game with another one.”
Despite a sour finish, the Sun Devils’ struggle with penalties began early in the contest – 3:26 in to be exact – when graduate forward Chris Grando was flagged for slashing. Three more ASU penalties would follow before the first buzzer sounded, but lights-out defense would keep the door closed for MSU and even give the Sun Devils an upper hand.
On the kill in the waning seconds of the opening frame, shifty forward Benji Eckerle carried the puck into the MSU zone on a two-on-one. While the junior was turned aside by Mavs’ sophomore goaltender Keenan Rancier, Grando was in the right place to put home the rebound and give ASU the lead.
“I’ve got to give credit to my linemate Benji,” Grando said. “He broke a play up and then I saw the opportunity to jump into the play, and he put it off the goalie’s pads perfectly, right to my tape. So shoutout to Benji for that one.”
Powers also commended Eckerle for his play, specifically in the faceoff circle. Eckerle won seven of eight draws Friday night, good for an 87.5% faceoff percentage.
However, the Sun Devils’ lead was short-lived. MSU junior forward Josh Groll needed just 58 seconds to get the equalizer for the visitors.
The early second-period goal seemed to give the Mavericks some momentum, as they would outshoot ASU 19-10 in the middle stanza. However, sophomore goaltender T.J. Semptimphelter was once again stellar between the pipes, making 18 stops in the second period en route to a 34-save performance.
Early in the third with the score knotted at one, ASU was awarded its second powerplay opportunity of the night when MSU junior forward Ondrej Pavel was flagged for interference. However, the Sun Devils couldn’t capitalize and only generated one shot on goal – their only power play shot in two tries Friday.
“Really disappointed,” Powers said of the powerplay. “When you work on something over and over and over again, and you just don’t execute it… again, they just have to execute. You need more out of your top guys when you’re struggling to score.”
The Mavericks also were having trouble finding the back of the net until the clocked dipped under six to play in the third, when senior forward Brendan Furry put a rebound past Semptimphelter. The Sun Devils pulled their goaltender and were generating some scoring chances with the game winding down, but Semik’s tripping penalty made the comeback nearly impossible.
MSU finally cashed in on its seventh powerplay of the night, as senior forward Ryan Sandelin hit the empty net to secure the win.
ASU will play for a split tomorrow night, with puck drop slated for 7 p.m. MST. The game can be viewed on Pac-12 Arizona.
