ASU Men’s Hockey: Sun Devils prepare to face Nebraska-Omaha amid strong start to season

(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)

The Arizona State Sun Devil hockey team (4-2-0) has only completed three series this season, yet the team is off to the hottest start in program history, already with half as many wins as it achieved in the entirety of last year.

ASU junior goaltender and Ottawa Senator draft pick Joey Daccord has recorded two shutouts and currently boasts the eighth best save percentage in the NCAA at .956. What’s more, ASU is coming off of only its third away sweep in program history, and its first since Dec. 17, 2016 against the University of Massachusetts.

“It just shows how far this team has come,” captain and junior defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk said. “We’re expecting home sweeps. We’re expecting away sweeps. I think it just speaks to how much we’ve improved from my freshman and even my sophomore year.”

Coming off last week’s 2-1, 5-1 sweep over the University of Alabama-Huntsville, the focus has shifted to the Mavericks of the University of Omaha this week.

UNO enters comes to Tempe as losers of three straight games and with an overall record of 0-3-1. UNO has had a tough schedule to open the season including a 5-4 loss and a 3-3 tie to currently No. 11 ranked Union College and two losses (4-1, 8-2) against No. 1 University of Notre Dame.

ASU head coach Greg Powers made it clear that although the Mavericks were winless, UNO was not a team the Sun Devils could take lightly.

“Their record is not indicative of the team they are,” Powers said. “We played them pretty tough last year—we actually tied them and beat them in a shootout, and we feel like we’re a lot better this year.”

ASU’s first three series have supported those comments. Every freshman to play on the Sun Devils’ roster has earned at least one point in their first six games of the season; and during ASU’s 5-1 victory of UAH, the Devils had five different goal scorers, including first career goals for freshmen Austin Lemieux and Jarrod Gourley.

Powers jokingly said, “It was nice to go through a weekend and see somebody other than Johnny [Walker] score,” referencing the sophomore forward’s team-high four games.

Powers also acknowledged the team play in last Saturday’s victory, saying: “To get scoring you gotta have balance up and down the lineup. Saturday, it was just working.” A large part of ASU’s overall success early in the season stems from the team’s potent penalty killers. Entering this weekend, the Sun Devils boast the third-best PK in the NCAA sitting at a .938 kill percentage.

Powers has made it imperative to his team to exercise more discipline for this coming weekend, though he mentioned that the team had not been taking bad penalties.

“We’re not taking selfish penalties,” Powers said. “Sticks [need to stay] down. It’s a huge issue if your stick gets parallel to the ice and you get a guy [waist high], [referees] are going to call it. It’s just finishing hits and not raising elbows. Little things.”

Finally, the weekend series marks a very special occasion for alternate captain and senior forward Anthony Croston, who will be playing in his 100th career collegiate game, all of which have been as a Sun Devil. Croston was originally a walk-on to the team who earned a scholarship and is now one of its experienced integral leaders.

Croston had just  words to describe his journey to his 100th game: “It’s crazy.”

“It felt like just yesterday I was doing orientation at the business school,” Croston said. “It’s crazy how far we’ve come and it came pretty quick. It’s pretty exciting.”

Croston mentioned that the Ice Vegas tournament that Arizona State won in Las Vegas last season was the standout moment in his time at ASU.

Coach Powers also acknowledged what the milestone has meant for the program, and the impact Croston has had on the team.

“He’s been a staple on and off the ice,” Powers said. “From a leadership standpoint, he embodies everything we want this program to be about. So, for him to get his 100th game in is a special moment for him and we’re proud of him.”

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