(Photo: Reagan Smith/WCSN)
Arizona State got a taste of its own medicine last weekend when it opened the season hosting an unranked Mercyhurst team picked to lose the then No. 20 Sun Devils.
A stunning 3-2 loss to the underdog in the first game may have opened the Sun Devils’ eyes, teaching them early on to not take any opponent lightly.
But ASU head coach Greg Powers and the Sun Devils look to put that series in the rear-view mirror and harness Mercyhurt’s upset skills in the team’s first road trip of the season this weekend against No. 3 Minnesota State at Mankato Civic Center.
“Just worry about us. That’s all you can do this early in the season,” Powers said. “We have to worry about ourselves. You can’t worry about who it is you’re playing.”
Added ASU sophomore forward Demetrios Koumontzis: “This weekend, facing the No. 3-ranked team, it’s got to be like last year. We got to go in and have that underdog mentality. I think that’s the only way we’re going to get a win there.”
The Mavericks’ roster, which brought back 20 skaters from last season’s 2018-19 WCHA regular season champion squad, has talent from top to bottom.
“They’re one of the top teams in the country,” Powers said. “They always are. This year might be one of the strongest teams they may have ever had… They returned 97% of their scoring. They returned their starting goaltender, who was tremendous for them last year as a freshman.”
Minnesota State’s top-returning scorer, senior forward Marc Michaelis, enters his final season as the top active career scoring leader in the nation with 118 points in 117 career games played.
Flanking Michaelis on the right wing, the Mavericks line up senior Parker Tuomie. The German-born forward tallied a team-high 26 assists and 40 points last season. Following a breakout campaign a year ago, senior forward Charlie Gerard rounds out Minnesota State’s top line.
The Sun Devils counter with their own feisty top-line which features junior forward Johnny Walker, junior forward James Sanchez and Koumontzis, who returns to the Land of 10,000 Lakes where he played in the USHS-MN league.
“We mix so well, and I think that’s just how we’re going to have to keep going this year,” Koumontzis said.
Koumontzis and his linemates generated the bulk of ASU’s offense in the opening series, tallying four goals and 12 points in against Mercyhurst.
Led by junior defenseman Connor Mackey, the Mavericks’ stellar top-line defensive pairing will have its work cut out against ASU’s top line.
Mackey collected a career-high 25 points and dawned a plus-15 during his sophomore season. Mackey’s primary defensive partner, Ian Scheid, has been a consistent offensive catalyst, racking up three straight 20-point seasons. The senior defenseman’s 46 power-play points are tops among all Maverick skaters.
Sophomore netminder Dryden McKay was selected the 2018-19 CHN National Rookie of the Year after establishing a 24-7-2 record, .927 save percentage and 1.76 goals against average as a freshman last season.
At the other end of the ice, the Sun Devils will start sophomore goaltender Evan DeBrouwer for the series opener. DeBrouwer stopped 20 of 23 shot attempts in the season-opening loss.
“We’re going to need our goaltending to be good this weekend to get a win,” Powers said. “It’s going to take six guys on the ice every time.”
DeBrouwer and graduate transfer Max Prawdzik each have one start under their belt while freshman Justin Robbins has yet to make his debut in maroon and gold.
The Sun Devils and Mavericks crossed paths for the first time in last year’s Desert Hockey Classic in Glendale. ASU and MNSU battled to a 2-2 tie in the consolation game, but junior defenseman Max Balinson’s shootout-winner gave his team the last laugh on the ice at Gila River Arena.
With an underdog mentality, the Sun Devils look to rekindle their chemistry with hopes of pulling off the road upset on Friday at 5:07 PM MST, and Saturday at 4:07 PM MST.
“We know how good they are,” Powers said. “We know how tough it’s going to be, going up there and getting a win on Friday, but our guys believe they can do it if they play the right way.”
