(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
The Arizona State Sun Devils women’s hockey team concluded their 2017-18 season bid with a loss to Midland Saturday.
ASU would finish winless in pool play of the 2018 WWCHL conference playoffs in the team’s first ever program playoff bid.
The Sun Devils came out firing to start the game, breaking out of their defensive zone, creating scoring chances early. The aggressive style of play was a complete 180-degree transition from Friday’s game, where the Devils were stuck in their defensive zone for the vast majority of the 60 minutes.
Midway through the first period, a shot from Isabelle Uhl-Chmiel found the net and gave Midland a 1-0 lead.
Just ten seconds later, Robin Hatcher netted her 12th goal of the season, securing a comfortable lead early in the game for the Warriors.
While the Sun Devils had been competing with Midland up until this point, the Warriors’ second goal killed ASU’s momentum, shifting it fully into the hands of the tournament host.
Midland scored one more goal, on a power play, before the first frame drew to a close, giving the Warriors a 3-0 lead at first intermission.
The second period brought a more composed Sun Devil team onto the ice. A team that mixed aggression with patience, similar to the maroon and gold squad that skated out to star the game.
Senior alternate captain Dannika Borges referenced the coaches’ speech during the intermission as a calming factor for the team going into the second period.
“They were like, ‘Have fun. Play your game,’” Borges said.
While ASU came out strong, they were still not a match for the aggressively scoring Warriors, as Midland’s Tieryn Arens racked up another goal, seven minutes into the period, to give MU a 4-0 lead.
ASU did not falter after giving up this goal, however. Sun Devil sophomore Megan Mroczek responded with a goal just 19 seconds after Midland’s, cutting the deficit to just 3.
“In the back of your mind you’re like, ‘This could potentially be my last game [of the season],’” Mroczek said. “I wanted to make it count, and it felt good for our last game.”
ASU played competitively for the rest of the period and skated out the same way in the third, knowing that a single goal would put the the team right back into the game.
Mindland’s Uhl-Chmiel had other plans, scoring her second goal of the game just 42 seconds in the final frame, a goal that sealed the 5-1 victory for the Warriors.
ASU Assistant Coach Katie McGovern complimented the Sun Devils level of play over the weekend.
“We’re really proud of them after this weekend,” McGovern said. “It was really cool to get here and earn our spot in the playoffs. They played a great two games.”
In their loss to Midland, Arizona State took three penalties, two more than in their previous matchup with Lindenwood-Belleville.
While some penalties were called on ASU and Midland, there was frustration on both benches and all throughout the stands with the lack of control the officials had over the game.
“It’s very, very frustrating to this whole team,”Borges said. “We’re trying to play it clean. We’re trying to play our game. It’s very hard to focus, when they’re [Midland] not getting those calls on them.”
As the clock wound down to its final seconds, the Sun Devils played with renewed purpose, as all four seniors took the ice together for their final shifts as not only Sun Devils, but as captains to the young second year program.
While Midland took an early lead that permanently shifted the game’s momentum, the entire team stayed focused on climbing back.
“They were positive all game,” McGovern said. “That was awesome to see, especially for our seniors.”
The Sun Devils finish their second season of Division 1 ACHA play 8-15-1 and look to further continue on the strides made in their first two seasons heading into 2018-19 season.
“Before it was, ‘We want to go to playoffs,’ and being hopeful we’ll make playoffs,” Mroczek said. “Now it’s not hopeful anymore because we’ve done it. We know it’s possible.”
The WWCHL playoffs conclude tomorrow with the WWCHL conference championship game which will be played at noon C.T.
