(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
Saturday night was full of festivities for Arizona State women’s club hockey, but there was still an important game on the line. The Sun Devils hosted Denver for the second and final game of the series on Senior Night and came out on top, 3-2.
It was a night all about ASU’s four graduating captains. For what has been a rarity this season, each of them received the start together and each tallied a point in their final home game as a Sun Devil.
“Overall, awesome energy this weekend,” ASU head coach Lindsey Ellis said. “With Senior Night, emotions are high and there are a lot of things going on. Last year, those four were able to start quite frequently. And this year, they haven’t been able to play as a line as much. I know they were really excited to be able to play a little bit more on the same line tonight.”
However, it was freshman forward Catherine Jones who got the scoring going for ASU. The promising, young scorer found the puck in front of Denver goaltender Tanner Stover and buried it for the first goal of the game. Taylor England was credited with the assist.
“I felt full of energy and that I could give it my all every game for the seniors,” Jones said about Saturday’s game. “Tonight, I just put everything on the net no matter what.”
Jones now has the most points by a freshman in program history. With two goals and an assist this weekend, Jones moved up to 11 points on the season.
“She just keeps getting better and better every game and that is something we love to see,” Ellis said about Jones. “After she shoots, she is crashing her own rebounds and that is awesome. That is exactly what we need.”
Just like Friday night’s contest, Amber Galles and Dannika Borges were right back at it. They both found the back of the net in spectacular fashion to help the Sun Devils along in their victory.
In the second period, Galles gathered the puck in her own zone and took it all the way to the Denver net to increase the lead to 2-0. The senior went coast-to-coast and sped past the last defender, patiently made the goaltender bite, then roofed a shot for her 10th goal of the season.
“Her hands, I don’t think anybody can stop it,” Ellis said about Galles’ goal. “She has a lot of strength and power and got through those people. She knows exactly where to put the puck and she had patience with it.”
Denver found life late in the second period. Zoe Smith tucked one past ASU goaltender Jordan Nash-Boulden to cut the deficit, 2-1.
Halfway through the third period, Borges sealed the victory for the Sun Devils. The senior collected a pass from fellow captain KC McGinley and Borges did the rest. She snapped a wrister on net and it went top shelf as Stover had no chance to make a possible save. Jones earned the secondary assist.
“I got a great pass and I had all that time,” Borges said. “I had that time to think about what I was doing, and then I just did it. Shirt up, celly!”
Borges had a monster weekend as she tallied three goals and an assist in the Denver series. Her eight goals are now second-best on the team behind Galles’ 10.
“We came out and we gave it everything,” Borges said. “With it being senior night, I didn’t want to lose. The other seniors didn’t want to lose.”
The Pioneers did not go away quietly, howecer. Sophia Cianfrani found the back of the net with 3:18 left in regulation to pull back within a goal at 3-2.
ASU fended off the Denver pressure in the final minutes after the Pioneers pulled their goalie for an extra attacker. The Sun Devils improved to 7-11-1 on the season with the weekend sweep.
Next up, the Sun Devils travel to the state of Ohio next weekend. ASU will take on Ellis’ alma mater, Miami University, in a two-game series and play Ohio State once on Sunday.
