(Photo Courtesy: Billy Wuneburger)
More than halfway through a season, a team that isn’t a lock to make the playoffs start to get really concerned with its position in the standings and if they’re in a good position to go forward into the playoffs. That’s where these two teams are, currently making this upcoming series between ASU and the University of Colorado a tense one.
The 7-6-0-0 Colorado is unranked, which is a strong sign for Arizona State’s club women’s hockey (9-4-0-1) as they are 5-0-0-0 against unranked teams. This is not a team to scoff lightly at though unlike maybe some of the unranked teams ASU has faced. The Buff’s come into this matchup winning their last three games and are trying to stay alive in the standings as they are in 15th place in the league.
On paper, this team is similar to ASU. They have an elite point scorer in graduate forward Mason Walker and senior forward Sydney Browne. Browne has scored 11 goals and 12 assists in 11 games for 23 points. She’s scored six of those goals in the past three games. ASU’s comparison in Mason Walker has 15 goals and six assists for 21 points. Walker has five goals in his past three games and has been the main offensive threat for the Sun Devils.
Senior forward Zaya Sax is the next points scorer for the Buffs with 14 points. From there, four players are tied for third with 13 points each. On the flip side, freshman Camryn Kozak is second on the Sun Devils with 11 points followed by freshman forward Amelia Smith with 10, junior forward Sydney Paulsen with nine, and sophomore forward Elle McKenna and graduate defenseman Sherdian Gloyd each with seven points.
In net, Colorado and Arizona State both share a common factor: goaltending has been split between three players. For ASU, sophomore goaltender Karsyn Hellman has been the starter for the past series against Michigan while junior goaltender Hallie McClelland is still out. She’s fared decently with a .872 save percentage and a 2.94 GAA. There’s also freshman goaltender Quinn Eatinger who has still only played the one game remaining perfect with a shutout.
The Buffs have a variety of options. Freshman goaltender Zoe Watson has played the most amount of games out of the trio but yields a .854 save percentage with a 2.60 GAA. Sophomore goaltender Andrea Bierbaum has a .894 save percentage and 3.38 GAA. She has the best save percentage out of the three goalies but the worst GAA out of the three. Finally, there’s freshman goaltender Camille Kouroiez who rocks a 3.50 GAA and a .877 save percentage. It’ll be a toss-up between the three as all the goalies have similar stats.
ASU has had a huge issue with staying out of the penalty box. Out of the five goals scored against them in their series again Michigan, four of them were shorthanded. It’s an issue that everyone on the team admits they have.
Luckily for them, the Buffaloes aren’t the best on special teams. On 46 powerplay opportunities, the Buffaloes have only scored twice and have allowed five shorthanded goals. That is ranked 29th in the league. Their penalty kill however is lethal. On the penalty kill, they allowed three goals and scored three shorthanded goals. That’s good enough for second in the whole league. Meanwhile, ASU is ranked 18th for their penalty kill and 13th for their powerplay.
The Buffaloes on paper appear to be a good team with some solid players. They’ve played the 30th-placed University of Wyoming three times. The Pokes have only won a single game in their 12 games. In those three games, the Buffaloes scored 47 goals while not allowing a single goal. They’ve also played the 29th-placed team: Montana State University where the Buffaloes scored 16 goals and only allowed two. The Buffaloes are actually 2-6 against ranked teams with those two wins coming against GCU, who has fallen below them in the standings, currently in 19th place. ASU is 4-4-0-1 against ranked teams (that includes against number one ranked Liberty and number six ranked Michigan).
The Sun Devils haven’t beaten a team that is currently above .500 since October when they beat UMass in a two games series. This Buffaloes team will be a good test for them. A good chance to improve their issues with penalties, get their scoring going and prove that they are going to be a team to beat going into the final stretch of the season. The last time these two teams faced off was the last regular season game last season where the Buffaloes won 1-0 at Oceanside.
