ASU Men’s Hockey: No. 16 Sun Devils travel to face Nebraska-Omaha

(Photo: Travis Whittaker/WCSN)

For the first time this season, No. 16 Arizona State will have a rematch. A road series against Omaha-Nebraska kicks off Friday night against the 2-7-1 Mavericks, who the Sun Devils dominated in Tempe earlier in the year.

For one team, things have changed massively. Coming into the early-season series, the Sun Devils were just 4-2-0, a good but still unproven record. Ideas of the Sun Devils being ranked were improbable at that point, and the schedule hadn’t hit its real heart yet.

Now things are very different. Arizona State is ranked 16th in the country and stands at a legitimate 10-4-0 record. They’ve handed losses to the No. 6 team in the country and multiple top programs throughout it as well. Nebraska-Omaha isn’t just facing a hot-starting team this time. They’re facing one of the country’s top teams.

But on the ice, things haven’t changed too much. In the first series about a month ago, Arizona State was playing like they are now. The Sun Devils swept the Mavericks, moving the puck extremely well throughout the weekend while getting a four-goal explosion from Johnny Walker in the second game. The first game of the series was a closer, back-and-forth affair where the Devils struggled to get used to their new opponents early on.

This is the second time around, and the Devils know that can’t happen.

“They’re playing much better now than they were when we saw them,” said Coach Greg Powers.

While ASU has pushed through their tough schedule well, Nebraska-Omaha has struggled. The Mavericks have played multiple ranked teams this season, most notably No. 8 ranked Notre Dame, No. 11 ranked Union and No. 20 ranked Miami (Ohio). At a surprise to many, Nebraska-Omaha’s opponent this weekend has also turned into a ranked opponent.

This weekend might continue to be a struggle for them though. The Mavericks possess a below average offense and defense, and have dealt with serious issues in the net.

Despite having the most games played in the country inflating the Sun Devils’ stats, certain measurements can be used to gauge how ASU stacks up against the Mavericks.

The Sun Devils have scored the country’s third most goals through their first 14 games, while Nebraska-Omaha has given up the most goals in the country. Bad defense and poor play in the net can both be to blame for their struggles. The Mavericks haven’t been great at suppressing shots, but the defense hasn’t totally been to blame. Goaltender Evan Weninger has the highest goals-against-average in the country at 4.40 and the sixth-worst save percentage at 87.3 percent. A reason he may not possess a lower save percentage is due to the defense limiting the number of shots that he faces, and therefore the number that can go in.

It’s possible that ASU goaltender Joey Daccord will also face a flurry of shots this series. Daccord’s been excellent this season, ranking in the top 25 of goaltenders nationwide based on GAA. But ASU’s defense has given up the second-most shots in the country this season. Thanks to Daccord, they usually don’t go in. But, in the series earlier this year, Nebraska-Omaha did go blow-for-blow with ASU before the Sun Devils pulled away. That result could bring the Mavericks confidence this weekend, something Powers warned ASU must look out for that.

“They’re gonna be foaming at the mouth to get us back,” Powers said.