ASU Men’s Hockey: Sun Devils prevail in gritty game

(Photo: Hailey Rogalski/WCSN)

TEMPE – Coming off a benchmark victory over then-No. 7 North Dakota and riding a three-game winning streak, Arizona State Men’s Hockey head coach Greg Powers didn’t want his team to take visiting Alaska – Anchorage (2-7-0) lightly. The Sun Devils (6-4-0) took that mentality to heart on Friday, scoring two first-period goals en route to a gritty 5-2 victory.

“It can’t always be pretty,” Powers said. “We preach that all the time, getting a guy driving hard to the net with his stick on the ice. Two guys did it, and it got us a nice cushion, and we didn’t look back.”

If ASU had any rust from the twelve-day break between games, it didn’t show. The Sun Devils logged the first five shots of the evening – thanks in part to a powerplay just 42 seconds into the opening period – and came inches away from taking an early lead when a try from freshman defenseman Blake Dangos rang off the post.

With about six minutes to play in the first, ASU broke through. Skating into the zone with a full head of steam, Dangos carried the puck along the boards before finding junior forward Ty Jackson right above the crease, who tapped home his second goal of the season.

“It felt good for sure,” Jackson said. “I thought our line was skating well today. Like I said, we can still limit a couple of turnovers here and there, but I thought we were moving our feet well and we need to continue that into tomorrow.”

The Sun Devils struck again less than a minute later, as sophomore forward Jack Jensen fired in a loose puck to make the score 2-0.

But UAA wouldn’t go down without a fight. Eleven minutes into the middle frame, graduate forward Jamie Collins beat sophomore goaltender T.J. Semptimphelter to cut the Sun Devil lead to one.

It wouldn’t take long for ASU to reclaim its two-goal lead. Not to be outdone by his twin brother, junior forward Dylan Jackson cashed in with a pretty goal on a delayed penalty. 42 seconds into the ensuing powerplay, sophomore forward Josh Doan put in a rebound to give the Sun Devils even more breathing room.

After scoring on the powerplay and even strength during the period, ASU needed a goal in one more situation; on the penalty kill. The Sun Devils achieved that feat with just over two minutes to play in the middle frame.

Heading into the Seawolves’ zone on a two-on-one, Doan dished the puck to senior defenseman Jack Judson, who snuck a backhander past UAA graduate goaltender Nolan Kent.

Aside from a tally by freshman defenseman Brett Bamber midway through the third, ASU shut down the Seawolves, as Semptimphelter stood tall to preserve the 5-2 victory.

Despite the win, Powers says that his squad will have their work cut out for them tomorrow against a physical and gritty UAA group.

“That team plays hard,” Powers said. “They play until the final buzzer, and we knew that they would. We’re going to have to be better tomorrow because we know they’ll be better.”