Photo: Kylee Meter/WCSN
No. 20 ranked Arizona State came into Sunday afternoon’s series finale against Mercyhurst with a chip on its shoulder.
On the heels of a shocking 3-2 defeat to the Lakers the night before, it was put-up or shut-up for the Sun Devils.
Fortunately for ASU, it didn’t have to look very far for find offense, as the team’s first line and top in sophomore Demetrois Koumontzis, junior James Sanchez, and sophomore Johnny Walker, and the defensive pairings of senior captain Brinson Pasichnuk and sophomore Joshua Maniscalco tallied 15 total points en route to a 6-4 victory and series split against Mercyhurst.
The line was present for every single goal scored by the Sun Devils.
“That line was awesome,” Arizona State head coach Greg powers said after the game. “They produced a ton for us. To be honest, they dominated last night’s game, too.”
It didn’t take long for the line to get going. In fact, it took less than three and a half minutes to open up the scoring, as Maniscalco blasted a one-timer past Mercyhurst redshirt senior goaltender Garrett Metcalf on the powerplay.
It was the first of three power play goals (nine total power plays) by the Sun Devils, and a noticeable improvement from the 0-5 power play from the previous night.
“Still a lot of room for improvement,” Powers said of the team’s power play performance. “It wasn’t as crisp, and a couple of them weren’t exactly how you’d draw them up. But, at the end of the day, we popped three (goals).”
Special teams played a large role in the outcome of Sunday’s game, as both teams spent a combined 40 minutes inside the penalty box. This called for a lot of time for the top power play line to be on the ice for Sun Devils, who capitalized at key moments of the match primarily in the second period where two power play goals put ASU up 4-1.
“After not getting one last night, then to get three today, that was the difference in the game,” Powers said.
However, the most important goal by the top line came about four minutes into the period when Pasichnuk received the puck on the breakout by Walker and delivered a surgical strike of a slapshot, bar down from near the blue line to score the eventual game-winning goal.
Walker sealed the victory with an empty-netter, finishing with two goals and two assists.
What really stood out from the top line’s play beside the amount of time spent on the ice was the fact that the line had only recently come together in the series spent in China.
“We had some success in China, but obviously it’s a different game here,” Walker said. “But, [Sanchez and Koumontzis] are both great players that can make great plays and obviously put the puck in the back in the net.”
Sanchez completed the trio of scoring on the net, finally netting his first of the season after a frustrating night before.
“Sanchez had a little monkey on his back,” Walker said. “And for him to pop that one was really good.
Looking ahead, the Sun Devils will hope for the same form of offensive production by their top line as they head to No. 4 Minnesota State in Mankato who opened their season with an exhibition win against Mount Royal 5-2.”
Added Powers: “They’re the exact same team we played last year. They are really good. They’re a legitimate Frozen Four contender.
