(Photo: Riley Trujillo/WCSN)
When the Arizona State Men’s hockey team left the state of New York on the chilled morning of Super Bowl Sunday, the team returned home knowing that the goal of earning its way into its first ever NCAA tournament was more alive than ever before.
More than that, the flight home from upstate New York marked the end of a six-game road stretch against Rochester Institute of Technology, Boston University, and No. 10 Cornell. The team went 3-3-0, including a sweep against RIT.
After the final game of the RIT series, ASU coach Greg Powers praised his team’s ability to fight back after starting the road series 0-3, being swept by Cornell Jan. 11th and 12th. In November, the team started a six game road series 1-3 and finished 3-3 with a sweep against Princeton.
“It speaks volumes of our guys’ character,” Powers said, “and the backbone we have in that [locker] room.”
The sweep against RIT lifted the team to No. 8 in the imperative PairWias rankings.
A friendly reminder, ASU is not a part of any league in the NCAA, therefore, has not automatic bid into the tournament. The team is reliant solely upon the PairWise, and with six of the sixteen slots going for conference tournament champions, the Devils are effectively fighting with 54 other teams for 10 spots.
This past weekend, the team jumped five spots in the PairWise, an objective comparative rankings method that takes into account RPI as well as head-to-head matchups and records vs. common opponents to slot teams (the USCHO keeps comparison charts for each program, including ASU).
The series sweep against the Tigers was a major boon for its tournament chances.
“We knew it was a must-win,” sophomore defenseman Gvido Jansons said. Jansons had the game-winning goal in the Saturday’s 4-2 victory over RIT. “We were getting ready for it, and we got the job done.”
With only four games left in the season, the Sun Devils are on the cusp of making program history. But in order to find a “safe zone” within the PairWise, the Sun Devils might need to grab a sweep against their next opponent, American International University, and no worse than a series split against Minnesota in their season finale next month.
AIC currently sits tied with three other teams at No. 34 in the PairWise rankings, placing them in the lower half of the NCAA rankings. A loss to AIC (RPI: .4942) could deal a big, and potentially fatal, blow to the Sun Devil’s (RPI: .5581) aspirations of making the tournament. In the program’s short history, the stakes have never been higher.
Following the AIC series, the team will get a bye week before traveling to Minneapolis, Minn. to take on the Golden Gophers on Mar. 1-2.
ASU has a secret weapon leading up to both the AIT and Minnesota series: rest.
Between both series, the team has a bye to reset and refocus.
“It’s really just getting ready for Friday,” sophomore forward and leading NCAA goal scorer (22) Johnny Walker said. “[Rejuvenating] the legs is a big part down the stretch. It’s a long season, and just staying fresh is really important.”
The team is within striking distance, and although tournament dreams are alive and well, the team’s current position has been a testament to the program rising from a 10-win season in 2016, to a 19-win team now with still four games left to be played.
When asked if the sweep against RIT was a “building block” for the program, junior goaltender Joey Daccord affirmed the question as he put his bag into the team bus as snow fell on his head.
“Absolutely,” Daccord said. “It’s continuing that success, and continuing to get better and better and build from there.”
