(Photo: Sun Devil Athletics)
A day after recording their first win of the 2020-21 season, the Arizona State Sun Devils (2-3-1) soundly defeated the No. 14 ranked Wisconsin Badgers (4-4) by a score of 3-1 Sunday afternoon in Madison.
The Sun Devils controlled the flow of play from start to finish and took advantage of a shorthanded Wisconsin team to secure their first ever road sweep of a Big Ten opponent.
“Hopefully this charters the course for the rest of our season,” head coach Greg Powers said. “We have a very good hockey team so this result does not surprise us. It’s more of what we expect to come and it’s a really good step in the right direction.
Sophomore forward Jax Murray propelled Arizona State to victory with the first two goals of his NCAA career, including a beautiful redirection to give the Sun Devils a two-goal lead early in the third period.
“It was pretty awesome,” Murray said. “There’s no way to really describe it. It’s been a while [since I’ve scored] so it felt pretty good.”
Freshman forward Matthew Kopperud also scored for the Sun Devils, making it the second time in as many games that the Denver-native has found the back of the net following a four-game drought to start the season.
“The first couple games were a big jump from juniors to here,” Kopperud said. “Finally being able to get my first [goal] yesterday was a big relief and then I can just finally play now.”
ASU junior goaltender Evan DeBrouwer recorded his first win of the season, stopping 28 of 29 shots. The only blemish on his record occurred early in the second period, when an outlet pass from ASU senior forward Sean Dhooghe bounced in off the skate of Wisconsin freshman forward Sam Stange, who was forechecking in front of DeBrouwer’s net.
“It was a bad bounce,” Powers said. “Sean tried to make the right play. He was trying to go behind their forechecker and he just passed it a split second too early. It happens; it’s hockey and we’ll get those bounces too.”
Despite the timing and unusual nature of Stange’s goal, DeBrouwer and the Sun Devils maintained their composure and shut down Wisconsin’s attack late in the game, preventing any hope of a comeback by the Badgers.
“What I loved about tonight was how soundly we played in the third,” Powers said. “That’s a clinic on how to close out a game.”
Arizona State will look to build on this weekend’s success as they shift their focus to Penn State, whom they will face off against on Dec. 8 and Dec. 9.
“That’s a legit sweep right there and I’m really proud of our guys,” Powers said. “I think it’s pretty safe to say that’s our best road sweep as a program.”
