(Photo: Riley Trujillo/WCSN)
Arizona State Men’s Hockey team had a clear objective coming into its weekend series against Wisconsin: they knew they had to start scoring.
ASU’s offense had plagued it in the early stages of its Big Ten-only schedule, scoring just two goals in four winless contests. The Sun Devils entered Saturday’s game without senior forward Johnny Walker and Wisconsin was going to offer no breaks on the offensive end, something ASU knew well after it was swept by the Badgers in February.
Even without Walker, ASU needed to end its scoring drought on Saturday night to get into the win column for the first time this season. They exuded confidence throughout the week that they’d be able to do it, whether it came from head coach Greg Powers or senior forward Sean Dhooghe, who was playing his first game against his former Badger teammates after transferring to ASU from Wisconsin over the offseason.
ASU backed its words up with actions on Saturday night. With new lines and a second period blitz in which ASU scored three unanswered goals, the Sun Devils (1-3-1) earned their first win of the season over an undermanned Wisconsin team (4-3) with an 8-5 victory. ASU freshman goaltender Cole Brady recorded 33 saves.
“That was a great win for this program,” Powers said. “We needed to shake things up in a major way and we got production out of all four lines.”
Added ASU senior forward Willie Knierim: “Guys stuck to the game-plan tonight. We carried it with us for 60 minutes. It was getting pucks to the net and bodies to the net. We got rewarded.”
The Badgers were without four forwards due to COVID-19 protocols, including junior forward Roman Achan, who was one of ASU’s biggest nightmares in the 2019-20 season finale.
“I’m sure it was a factor for them,” Powers said. “They still have a ton of talent. Their top line was intact. All their defensemen were in the lineup. Their starting goalie played. They’re still really good.”
ASU’s second period onslaught was the explosion it needed to breathe life back into the team’s offense. It started when ASU senior center James Sanchez sniped a shot past Wisconsin senior goaltender Robbie Beydoun to give ASU a 3-2 lead with 18:19 left in the period. Then, ASU junior forward Demetrios Koumontzis earned his second goal of the night after dumping the puck off to a teammate, relocating it and firing a shot to extend the ASU lead to 4-2.
But that wasn’t all. Sophomore defenseman Tanner Hickey – a transfer from Alabama Huntsville – capped off the second period avalanche with his first goal in an ASU uniform to make it 5-2 Sun Devils with 9:32 left in the period. It was Beydoun’s last action of the night.
“It just felt like we were going to break out tonight,” Powers said. “We had a great week of practice. The guys were really sharp all week. They were confident. Their attitudes were great.”
ASU’s first win didn’t come easy, though. The Sun Devils’ 6-2 lead dwindled to 6-5 in the third period as the Badgers mounted an offensive push of their own. Knierim single-handidly dashed Wisconsin’s hopes though. The senior forward’s first goal of the season came short-handed to extend ASU’s lead to 7-5 with 3:04 left in the game. He added on a second goal with an empty net and under a minute to play to make it 8-5
“It was the icing on top that finished it off,” Knierim said. “[ASU freshman forward Benji Eckerle] made a play [on the first goal] and I shot it.”
The Sun Devils’ defense has performed reasonably well this year and while the offense has lagged behind in terms of its overall production, Saturday night appeared to be a step in the right direction.
“Me, [ASU freshman forward Matthew Kopperud] and [ASU junior forward Jordan Sandhu] had really good chemistry and kept that going throughout the game,” Koumontzis said.
ASU’s early scoring troubles were relieved against the Badgers Saturday. After Wisconsin junior forward Brock Caufield scored just 2:35 into the game, the Sun Devils answered 3:24 later, as Kopperud tallied his first career goal after a one-timer bobbled in front of Beydoun.
“We did a really good job keeping it positive on the bench,” Knierim said.
The high-end skill of Wisconsin that plagued the Sun Devils in February made its presence known as well. Sophomore forward Owen Lindmark blocked a shot in the ASU offensive zone, and skated all the way down the ice with the puck, beating freshman goalie Cole Brady to the stripe and made it 2-1 just 1:33 after ASU had tied.
Kopperud wasn’t the only Sun Devil to score his first career goal. With 16:39 left in the game, Eckerle extended ASU’s lead to 6-2 before the Badgers made a late push to bring the game within one score.
The Sun Devils win Saturday serves as an important milestone in what’s been a frustrating and surprising season so far. Even with both sides short-handed, ASU proved the Big Ten and the road isn’t quite yet too tall of a task for them.
“We knew this year was going to be a grind and a struggle,” Knierim said.
