(Photo: Travis Whittaker/WCSN)
The first 40 minutes of Friday night’s showdown between No. 17 Arizona State and Rochester Institute of Technology were best described as a goalie showdown.
ASU graduate goaltender Max Prawdzik, who was making just his third start of the season, and RIT junior goaltender Logan Drackett had stood on their heads.
However, excellent as Prawdzik had been through two periods of play, the 1-1 score entering the third period was daunting for a Sun Devil team that has struggled in third-period play to this point in the season.
“Before tonight, we [were tied five times] going into the third period and hadn’t won,” ASU head coach Greg Powers said. “We knew. We’re going to do what we needed to do and go where we needed to go to win these games and the guys really stepped up.”
ASU’s third period woes were no matter on Friday night.
A five-goal outburst in a 4:48 span in the game’s final frame lifted ASU (14-8-3) over RIT by a final score of 6-1 at Oceanside Ice Arena.
“I thought we played really well,” Powers said. “The guys played with pace tonight. They, for the most part, played the right way.”
ASU’s offensive depth was on full display as six different Sun Devils found the back of the net while 11 different players found their name on the scoresheet.
“It’s nice to have that kind of distribution and spread,” Powers said. “They were moving the puck really well, jumping up into the play. It was nice with Jacob [Semik] getting us going there and putting it through him. We needed that, and it got us going.”
The onslaught kicked off with ASU freshman defenseman Jacob Semik, who gave ASU the edge at the 4:27 mark of the third period. It was Semik’s first goal in 15 games, and he was happy that his hard work paid off.
“I feel really comfortable,” Semik said. “The coaches have been working with me a lot on jumping and being more assertive. It was nice to have their support and, letting me loose a little bit, and tonight it showed.”
34 seconds after Semik’s score, junior forward Johnny Walker danced his way to the front of the net for his 15th goal of the season. Before that, Walker had demonstrated his patience, faking a shot-pass to Jordan Sandhu for the game’s opening tally.
“When he’s doing everything the right way in every zone, he’s a dominant player,” Powers said of Walker’s performance. “It just domino-effects the right way for him because he’s such a good player.”
Freshman defenseman Jack Judson got the monkey off his back 1:36 after Walker’s fancy goal with his first score in 11 games, completing a 3-on-1 rush on a rising slap shot under the bar.
Seven seconds following the ensuing faceoff, Maniscalco sent the puck around the boards as Drackett went behind the net to play the dump-in. The puck perfectly bounced toward Willie Knierim’s stick. He easily cashed in his eighth goal of the season.
Less than three minutes later, senior forward Tyler Busch’s faceoff win allowed sophomore defenseman Jarrod Gourley to tee up the fifth and final goal of the third period.
Prawdzik picked up his third career collegiate victory and made 24 saves on 25 shots on goal in the process.
“I was excited when coach told me I was going to play,” Prawdzik said. “I thought the guys did a good job. There wasn’t anything too crazy in the beginning of the game. They let me settle in. It was nice getting some shots in early.”
For the first time this season, the Sun Devils won after previously being 0-4-1 when tied after two periods.
“It’s all timing and getting big saves when you need it like we did tonight,” Powers said. “We never questioned the backbone we have in our room or the character. We know we have what it takes to do some special stuff and that was a fun team to watch play tonight.”
