(Photo Courtesy: Billy Wuneburger)
TEMPE – The Sun Devils dominated the Colorado Buffaloes, winning 7-0 in a statement win.
ASU put a lot of pressure on the Buffaloes early. Some good chances from freshman forward Camryn Kozak were turned away by freshman goaltender Zoe Watson. As the period went on, sophomore goaltender Carsyn Hellman saw some action as well from a Buffaloes player that was left unprotected in front of her but Hellman turned away the shot.
“I love the kid. Such a hard worker and an amazing person all around,” freshman forward Tristan Craig said about her goalie.
A rough scrum in front of the net left freshman forward Amelia Smith with some opportunities. Smith poked the puck at Watson twice with the second shot going in. Junior forward Haley Martin would get the assist on Smith’s eighth goal of the season. The Sun Devils led 2-0.
It wouldn’t take long for the Devils to extend their lead. Graduate forward Mason Walker fed a pass to sophomore forward Elle McKenna who made a nice move to put the puck past Watson for her eighth of the season. Walker got an assist on the goal which made it 2-0 Sun Devils.
The rest of the period was spent in the Buffaloes’ zone as ASU put up 16 shots against them. The Buffaloes only put up seven. ASU also only took one penalty in the whole period, something that was a concern to the team over the past couple of games.
“There was a big emphasis on that in practice this week,” head coach Lindsey Ellis said “Not just controlling our emotions so we’re not in the box that much but also practicing our penalty kill.”
“We didn’t want anyone in the box. We talked about it as a team so we did what we needed to do,” Craig said.
The second period began with a bang, as graduate defenseman Flo Awde put a shot on Watson that Craig put in the net. That was Craig’s first goal since the home opener way back in October. Awde got the assist and ASU led 3-0.
“Amazing,” Craig said with a smile when asked how it felt to get that weight off her back.
ASU continued to put pressure on the Buffaloes. Graduate defenseman Sheridan Gloyd fed a pass to Kozak who shot it to the net where Walker put in his 16th goal of the season. Kozak and Gloyd got assists as ASU led 4-0.
It wouldn’t take long for ASU to strike again. Junior forward Hayley Martin shot the puck on the net and sophomore forward Sam Murphy tried to get the rebound. Junior forward Sydney Paulsen finally put the puck in as the Devils further extended their lead to 5-0.
Gloyd got back on the scoresheet as her shot ricocheted off Watson and senior forward and captain Andi Main put in the loose change. That would be the sixth goal of the game and the fourth of the period.
That would do it for the period as ASU put up four goals in that period. They ended the period shorthanded but managed to put up 16 more shots while the Buffaloes put up seven shots.
The third period brought us one of the most beautiful goals of the season. Paulsen slid a pass behind her between her legs to Awde who took a slapshot and scored. That was Awde’s first goal of the season and you could tell by the raw emotion she was extremely happy. That would put the Sun Devils up 7-0.
“It feels amazing. Just having all the girls there for me and bringing the energy up and just being supported by the team is amazing. There’s no feeling like it,” Awde said.
“Coming into our program, she’s a veteran,” Ellis said. “She has a huge presence on the ice and she’s such a great personality to have in the locker room, on the bench, and everywhere. For her to have her first goal, everyone’s so excited. We’re happy for her.”
ASU would go on to win the game 7-0, their most explosive game offensively in a very long time. ASU got 46 shots overall while the Buffaloes managed 19 shots.
“This is the team that took us out of nationals last year and that fire clearly showed and it’s just really important to get wins like that out of our conference rivals,” Ellis said.
Even though the shots were very lopsided, Ellis admitted after the game she would still like her team to not allow as many quality shots.
“Tomorrow, we still need to clean up our D-zone a little bit. We allowed some quality shots we shouldn’t have,” Ellis said.
However, overall Ellis and the team were proud of tonight’s game.
“I think I can speak for the team when I say I was really proud of the defense and the forwards really picking their heads up and shooting with a purpose,” Awde said. “I think in our practices this week we really executed that and we were mindful of it. I think that all of the girls in the powerplay and penalty kill just try to give it 100 percent and it all contributes to the bigger goal which is winning as a team.”
“That was such a great team win. That was the most exciting thing ever. We were all communicating and we were all positive. That’s all you need to be right?” Craig said.
Overall, this was a statement win from the team. The penalty kill operated at 100 percent, Craig got her first goal since October, Awde got her first goal of the season, and the team scored seven goals with Hellman getting the shutout. They’ll play the Colorado again tomorrow at Oceanside Arena. Puck drop is at 7.
