(Photo: Reagan Smith/WCSN)
Through twelve games, No. 13 ASU Women’s Hockey has tied its record for the most wins in a single season with ten. As minuscule as this hot start may seem, it has proven to be such a monumental achievement for the girls in Maroon and Gold — and the numbers show it.
Part of the success this season can be credited to the way the offense has performed, particularly when it comes to scoring and putting points on the board.
The Sun Devils have two of the top 20 scorers in the nation, sophomores Danielle Dupont and Kat Jones. Fellow first linemate and freshman Andi Main also ranks in the top 40. That first line for ASU has combined to score 30 goals this year, which is 51% of all goals scored this season by the Sun Devils.
Jones, in particular, is coming off a historic weekend in Michigan, where she tallied a pair of hat-tricks against Davenport and Michigan. The Pittsburgh native has already tied her career-high in goals with 13 with seven games left to play in the regular season.
The rest of the team has tallied a total of 59 points to compliment the onslaught that the top line is providing.
The Sun Devils haven’t been too impressive on the power play, only scoring a total of six times in man-advantage situations. This has almost no impact on their overall performance as they still manage to average 4.8 goals per game, once again making them one of the highest-scoring teams in the country. This was evident when the team put up 13 goals in a shutout of Concordia Ann Arbor during the Michigan visit. ASU had 75 shots on goal in a game where 11 different Sun Devils found the back of the net at least once.
This is one of three games that the Sun Devils have played in which they’ve won, but a margin of five goals or more. The other two coming against Davenport, where the Devils won 6-1, and Colorado State, 9-1.
The goal-scoring is impressive when it comes to the sheer amount of goals there have been, but one of the biggest factors for their success has been their ability to move the puck in attempts to set up a good goal-scoring opportunity.
Dupont currently leads the squad in assists with 10, while the rest of the team is currently averaging around three assists per player.
Quality goal scoring is set up by good puck movement. It shows late in games this season as well, with over 20 goals being scored in the third period alone.
The Sun Devils will be on home ice for the first time all season after playing their final road series of the regular season last week in Michigan. They will square off twice against Utah, Grand Canyon and Colorado before playing GCU one more time at Arcadia Ice Arena. Colorado will prove to be one of the tougher opponents ASU will have to play all season, as the Buffaloes currently stands No. 10 in the nation.
ASU was outscored 18-24 when playing at Oceanside Ice Arena last season. Considering the production from the various newcomers this season, the Sun Devils won’t have to necessarily worry about putting the puck in the back of the net.
The nine freshmen have combined to score 22 goals this season while proving that the lack of experience is in no way a hindrance to the Sun Devil’s play.
Head coach Lindsey Ellis and the rest of the Sun Devils have had a lot to be excited about this season considering the level that the team has performed at all season long. ASU will come into the homestand with an overall goal differential of +38. Riding their best start in program history and a top 15 ranking to begin the season, the Sun Devils have shown how important offense has been to their success all year long.
