(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
The No. 14-ranked Arizona State women’s hockey team is off on yet another road trip, this one however to familiar territory. The Sun Devils will be playing this weekend’s games in Colorado – where the team participated in the Western Women’s Collegiate Hockey League Showcase just a couple of weeks ago.
This weekend ASU will face Denver again, this time in a two-game series starting on Saturday at 9:00 p.m. and Sunday with the puck set to drop at 8:15 a.m. — all at Joy Burns Ice Arena.
The Sun Devils, however, will start their weekend with a tough task as they face No. 3 Colorado in a two-game series Friday night at 5:00 p.m and 10:50 a.m. Saturday. With this potentially being the toughest matchup of the season for the Devils, the game plan has been adjusted to keep the Buffaloes in check.
“We know they’re one of the most offensive teams in the entire league, so it’s a lot of defensive zone and being able to get past them into our offensive zone,” head coach Lindsey Ellis said. “It’s a lot of transition and being able to adapt to their speed.”
ASU is coming off of a series tie against Colorado State in its home opening weekend last Friday and Saturday. The Sun Devils lost 4-1 on Friday night, but were able to even the series with a 6-5 win on Saturday night.
The Devils started hot Saturday night – something they have not been accustomed to this season.
“That’s been something we’ve been struggling with a lot this season,” freshman forward Sydney Hancock said. “Coach is always telling us we can’t go out the first period slow. I think as long as we’re lifting each other up…going out positive…I think we can keep it up.”
ASU scored four of their six goals in the first period but gave up three goals in the final period. To the coaching staff going period by period, the Devils lost the majority of the game and major key this weekend is finding a consistency throughout each matchup.
“[It’s about] never being satisfied with what we’ve done, always being hungrier and constantly wanting more,” junior forward Erin Rawls said. “Winning one period isn’t enough, we need to win all three.”
Winning all three periods will be a tough assignment for the Devils when they face off against Colorado. The top three scorers in the ACHA are, in fact, Colorado Buffaloes. Mariah Dally, Leah MacArthur and Kathleen Ash have combined for 67 points in 11 games.
For perspective, the top three Devils have combined for 30 points in 10 games and the team as a whole has 67 points so far this season.
“We don’t worry about those three people. We worry about how we play our game,” Rawls said. “If we’re defensively strong and do what we need to do, then it will limit them. Also, being strong on our sticks, making sure we’re always first to the puck and winning those one-on-one battles will help prevent them from collapsing on us.”
Against CSU, the Devils were able to outshoot the Rams 110-73 in the series split. Shots on goal have not been a problem for ASU, as the team averages over 40 a game. Putting pucks in the back of the net, though, has caused continuous trouble this season.
“We struggled to get maybe 15 shots on net last year, so this year when we’re getting 50 shots on net, it’s already an improvement,” Ellis said. “Now we just have to keep building on that and get those pucks in the net.”
Not only did ASU outshoot CSU and lose in the series opener last weekend, Denver was another team that was outshot by ASU earlier in the season but still managed to pull out a victory, the Pioneers won 3-2. The Devils are facing Denver once again but seem to be more dialed in on how they can turn more shots into more points.
“We have practiced a lot more high percentage shots and screening the goalie, playing the rebounds, being more aggressive on rebounds,” Rawls said. “We’re trying not to be too fancy in the blue line and get turnovers instead of getting it deep and on net.”
The Sun Devils are making their second appearance in Colorado this season and will face the challenge of playing four games in less than 48 hours. With a full roster, ASU should be well rested and ready for the long weekend.
“They’ve done a ton of conditioning this season,” Ellis said. “As far as our four and three game weekends previously, we didn’t really have an issue with that. I know Colorado has elevation too, so as long as we’re keeping care of our bodies, eating the right things. Things like that I think they’re prepared for.”
