(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
It has been just four days since the Arizona State women’s hockey team last took the ice in Colorado, but after a day off and two practices, the team is traveling to Springfield, Missouri to host the Missouri Showcase this weekend.
The No. 12 Sun Devils will face three unfamiliar teams at Mediacom Ice Park over three days, opening the weekend Thursday night when they match up against a first year program in Concordia-Ann Arbor. ASU then plays Aquinas College Friday night and finishes off its weekend with a contest against No. 2 McKendree University Saturday night.
The weekend’s schedule bodes well for the Devils, as all games will be played at 7 p.m., a consistent itinerary the team did not have in Colorado.
“Because we’re hosting, we’re able to give everyone the amount of rest time that is needed to be able to perform at their top levels. ” head coach Lindsey Ellis said “It’s important as a coach that when we’re planning these things we make sure everybody can play to their full potential, especially if we want to play at a high level and bring this league to what it needs to be.”
Although the team has the benefit of playing at consistent times this weekend, the Sun Devils are just a few days removed from the WWCHL Showcase in Colorado, where they suffered a 3-2 loss to Denver, battled to a 4-4 tie in overtime with Midland, grabbed a 3-2 overtime win against Air Force and fell to Midland 3-1 to end the showcase. After a competitive weekend with four games in 48 hours, there are minor adjustments to be made to ensure Missouri ends with more success.
“We need our forwards to step up the pressure, especially in the neutral zone,” junior defenseman Alyssa Ayers said. “Keep our passing tape-to-tape, I think that would really help. Also, just going in and playing our game, keeping our heads in the game, not worrying about who we’re playing or how they play, just playing our game.”
Back on the road after minimal rest, the players are working to not allow back-to-back trips to affect them.
“I think the amount of fun we have with each other really helps,” Ayers said. “Obviously we get tired, we’re all sore. During the week, we have to try and finish up our school work. I think knowing that we are coming back with our team and we have those times in the hotels and we have fun. Obviously, we love the game, so those four-game weekends are fun for us.”
Not only does the time spent with one another boost the team’s energy for when the puck drops, but having a complete roster is an advantage as well.
“We set it about in our culture this year,” Ellis said. “Last year, when we’d come home from a road trip, it seemed like it took a week to recover and now they came out [Tuesday] on fire. It shows what kind of team they are and what kind of work ethic they have.”
Going into a weekend full of unfamiliarity, the Devils will be up against two teams that have yet to capture their first victory this season — and a 6-1 McKendree team currently ranked as the second-best team in the country. The pace of each game may be significantly different, but the message remains the same.
“We have goals set per game of what we want to do, the little things we want to do,” Ellis said. “That doesn’t change because our little goals are what makes it to the big goal at the end of the season. We can’t take this weekend lightly. We haven’t proved ourselves against them, so we can’t think we’re better.”
ASU currently ranks at No. 12, the highest ranking in the history of the program. As inspiring as that sounds, the team has no intentions on sitting in that seat all season.
“I hope we can continue to move up in that rank. [We need to] start beating some of those ranked teams, or working really hard against them,” freshman forward Amy Gulliksen said. “We’ve been practicing super hard this whole season and it’s showing that out on the ice.”
For Gulliksen, she found her rhythm in Colorado by scoring two goals in the team’s 4-4 tie against Midland. Now, her confidence rides into Missouri.
“A lot of the times I might back off more and pass the puck,” she said. “Now I have the confidence to carry the puck and help my team out a lot more.”
This ASU team, coming back from cutthroat performances in Colorado, has seemed to have gained the level of confidence necessary to compete at a high level each time they step on the ice.
“I know playing Midland and keeping up with their game has helped us a lot. And then in the morning Sunday, playing [Midland] again, we stepped it up and played their game again,” Ayers said. “We already knew our defense was super solid. This weekend solidified that we play a very defensive game, and being a [defenseman] myself, it makes me more excited to play.”
It’s another weekend full of opportunity for the Devils, including the chance to take down the current No. 2 team in McKendree University. Success for the team is taking care of the goals that they have for themselves.
“We really want to come out here with more wins than losses,” Ellis said. “That and just being able to get those pucks in the back of the net. It’s really the little things.”
With each team needing to face a nine opponents during the season to qualify for the national tournament, this showcase will allow teams to meet that requirement, but it also gives the town of Springfield an exciting weekend of women’s hockey.
“It came about rather quickly and now the town is really excited,” Ellis said. “The news station has put it on the news all week long and there’s all these things they’re really excited about.”
