(Photo: Sun Devil Athletics)
Through its first period of play against Ohio State, Arizona State was like a platoon of soldiers trapped in the trenches, pinned down by the suppressive fire of its enemy.
While some shots flew overhead and others connected, no matter how much return fire the Sun Devils were able to produce, it seemed as though they were emptying their clips at targets they were missing badly and hardly preventing the Buckeyes from doing damage.
Before the game even reached the 8:30 mark, the Buckeye’s mounted a 3-0 lead over an ASU team that had lost each of its last three battles entering Thursday night’s engagement at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio.
But, like guerilla warfare militants, ASU (3-6-2) ambushed the Buckeyes (3-5-1) with two goals in the second period from freshman forward Michael Mancinelli and two more in the third period en route to a 4-4 tie, a result that earlier appeared unlikely given the Buckeyes’ early use of their powerful weaponry.
“It shows that we have a lot of character,” ASU freshman forward Michael Mancinelli said. “We know we can come back on anyone and we did that tonight.”
ASU’s volley of effective return fire began just 1:56 into the second period when Mancinelli connected on the first goal of his career. With the puck in the corner, he put a shot on goal and while Ohio State senior goaltender Tommy Nappier blocked the first attempt, the freshman from Northville, Michigan, followed his own shot and cashed in on the rebound.
“It felt good, long time coming,” Mancinelli said. “Felt good to get it off the back.”
Almost exactly 14 scoreless minutes later, it was Mancinelli who netted the Sun Devils’ second goal of the game to bring them within one. After rebounding his own shot for a goal earlier in the period, Mancinelli’s second goal came on a ricochet after ASU sophomore forward Jax Murray took a shot.
ASU head coach Greg Powers was particularly impressed with Mancinelli’s performance against the Buckeyes, though it had less to do with his two-score outing and more with his entire line’s effort after getting benched in the waning minutes of the first period due to poor play.
“They were flat, they had no juice,” Powers said. “I think I sat them the last six or seven minutes (of the first period), they didn’t get a shift. Then [Mancinelli] came out and got us back into the game. Good for the kid.”
Mancinelli said that a meeting between him and his linemates during the first intermission provided the spark they needed to finish the game strong.
“We knew we didn’t have a good start,” Mancinelli said. “In between periods we just kind of talked to each other and said, ‘Let’s go. Let’s move our feet and see what happens.’ It was good.”
The Sun Devils did not let up on their pressure in the third period. Perhaps still dazed from a second-period onslaught that saw their lead shrink from three goals to one, Ohio State turned the puck over and allowed ASU redshirt junior Chris Grando, who sat out the 2019-20 season post transfer from Boston College, to score his second goal of the season, tying the game at 3-3.
Just over four minutes later, ASU junior forward Jordan Sandhu clanked in a rebound shot off the goalpost to give his team its fourth unanswered goal. If not for a high stick violation in the first period to negate a goal, Sandhu’s third-period score would have been his second of the game.
“It was just a no-quit mindset,” Sandhu said. “We believe in the group we have. Obviously, it was a tough start for those first 10 minutes but there were still 50 minutes to go and it showed how much character we have. We just stuck to the gameplan.
The majority of the Buckeyes’ success came against ASU freshman netminder Cole Brady, who was making the sixth appearance of his career on Thursday night. Entering play, Brady had allowed 3.62 goals-per-game and in less than 8:30, he allowed three goals, prompting Powers to remove him in favor of senior Evan DeBrouwer.
“He’s a great goalie,” Powers said of Brady. “He’s going to be an incredible goalie. He’s entitled to be a freshman. When we play freshmen as much as we are this year, you’re going to have to live and die with some rough moments. He’ll be fine and he’ll bounce back.”
DeBrouwer was excellent after his entrance into the game, allowing just one goal with 18 saves in 56:41 of action, including an overtime period in which he allowed no scores despite constant pressure from Ohio State.
“He’s a veteran guy, it’s his job,” Powers said of his senior goalie. “That’s why I put him in. We expect him to do what he did.”
The Sun Devils had their backs against a wall early on Thursday night, nearly unable to maneuver into a more favorable position due to their opponent’s volume of fire. That’s what made their comeback tie all the more impressive, according to Powers. In some ways, he said it was like they came back from the dead.
“It’s a great tie,” Powers said. “It was like a morgue in our room because the guys wanted to win but they came back. When you claw back from down three after what we’ve gone through for 34 days, I mean, are you kidding me? With the character of this team to do that, it was so impressive. To go down three like that on the road for your 11th game, it’s so impressive. I’m so proud of our guys.”
