(Photo: Deja Broughton/WCSN)
The long-awaited return to the ice was broken this weekend as the No. 15 Arizona State women’s hockey team hosted No. 10 Minnesota. Unfortunately for the team, the Devils were unable to secure a victory Saturday morning as they fell, 6-1. The loss on an early morning completed the two-game series between them and the Gophers, which resulted in a clean sweep for Minnesota.
The two losses for ASU moves them to a 7-10-1 overall record with just two remaining games in the regular season before heading off to the WWCHL Playoffs in Las Vegas. Although they finished the weekend outscored11-2, the Devils have many positives to take away from a defensive-driven series.
“All six of [the defenders] are our hardest working players — in my eyes,” assistant coach Kaley Marino said. “They give us a chance to win. We played our defensive zone from our defensive standpoint pretty well, but it’s difficult when we get it out of the zone and we have trouble in the neutral zone and we can’t even enter into the offensive zone.”
On Saturday morning, it was the pronounced effort of freshman goaltender, Macy Eide, who stood in for veteran goaltender Jordan Nash-Boulden.
“I’m sure she’s disappointed with her start, but I think she came back and that’s all you can really ask out of a goalie,” Marino said.p
Eide faced nearly 60 shots against Minnesota on Saturday morning, allowing six to touch the back of the net.
“The first couple she might want back, but after that, she tightened up,” Marino said. “She’s growing. She hasn’t had a lot of minutes this year and with three goalies it makes it difficult — but I’m proud of the way she responded.”
A prominent factor in why Eide faced shots for the majority of the game was the lack of ability for ASU to push the puck into its offensive zone. It was a vital reason for the team’s loss on Friday night and it continued on into the next morning.
“It was a lack of offense,” Marino noted. “That’s just the name of the game, that’s what the issue is going to be. If we let up that many shots against on us, it shouldn’t really matter as much if we can get some offensive opportunities — but we didn’t get enough.”
From the eye of a fan in the stands of Oceanside Ice Arena, one would believe that Minnesota is a top tier team — and they have been for years; however, this season’s stat line for the Gophers wouldn’t suggest the same. They scored just 26 goals in nine Division I games and had an overall record against both Division I and Division II teams of 6-7-0 entering the weekend.
“They’re a great team, I don’t think we should have lost to them the way that we did this weekend,” Marino said.
To go along with the goaltender change for ASU, the Devils also made adjustments throughout the game based on the players that would provide a spark for a team that may have been lacking effort this weekend, with defensemen KC McGinley and Alyssa Ayers playing as forwards in the third period.
“We have a couple gals that just don’t want the puck on their stick, and that’s where it becomes difficult,” Marino said.
As they head into their final week of the regular season — rivalry week as they play Grand Canyon — practice will be driven on one main point of emphasis for this young ASU roster. “Offense,” Marino said. “We’ve done pretty good against GCU, it’s been pretty even. We’ll take our efforts from this weekend and just really drill in the offense. Get into the zone and set something up so we can go forward from there.”
The Devils had just 11 shots Saturday morning and had a similar statistic at the end of the matchup on Friday night, when they managed just 16. Now, more than ever, is the time for ASU to create a balance and a rhythm of both offense and defense in order to gain strides in the right direction.
One key play that occurred in the middle of the second period was a takedown of a Minnesota player by junior defenseman, Alisa Manny, frequently referred to as “Tank” by teammates.
It was a physical battle throughout the series, however, this interaction could have been seen in WWE. Manny and a Minnesota player got physical in front of the crease, leading to Manny slamming her to the morning ice and resulting in a double minor penalty.
“Tank’s got a lot of energy, got a lot of passion, and that’s a great thing to have in a person,” Marino said. “We got to be able to contain it — in a way— but I do agree that it can bring energy.”
As much energy as it might have brought to the Sun Devil bench, the team was unable to capitalize on the bolt of momentum.
The Sun Devils will cap off their regular season with a two-game home series against Grand Canyon Feb. 7 and 8 at 8:00 p.m. as they look to sweep the Antelopes for the first time this season. ASU and GCU are tied 2-2 in this season’s overall series.
