ASU upsets NCAA Penn State to split series

The Arizona State Sun Devils will get a warm welcome back to Tempe after beating Penn State 3-1 in game two.

The Sun Devils beat an NCAA division I program for the first time in program history and they looked like a completely different and more focused team in the second game.

ASU ended the first period out shooting the Nittany Lions 16 to 10 and they took that momentum into the second period.

Faiz Khan put the Sun Devils on the scoreboard on a beautiful pass from Dan Styrna and the defense was doing their job of keeping Penn State away from Joe D’Elia. When Khan scored the first goal of the game, D’Elia had only seen 12 shots.

Friday night, Penn State never gave the Sun Devils a chance to compete as they started the second period with a three-goal outbreak in a six minute span. ASU made sure that did not happen Saturday night. With 17:20 left in the second period, Kale Dolinski put his team ahead by two goals after scoring his 20^th of the season.

Penn State showed some heart and was able to scrap back one goal of their own from freshman Curtis Loik, but Joe D’Elia kept his composure in net to help the Sun Devils secure their 19^th victory of the season.

ASU caught a slight break midway through the third period when the referees waved off a Penn State goal that was allegedly batted in off a PSU hand. Give it to the maroon and gold leaders to ice the game. Dolinski scored his second goal of the night on PJ Musico.

This win will go down as one of the best Sun Devil hockey victories to date. The team can enjoy the win now, but they play at home next weekend for the first time since November 9 as they take on third ranked Robert Morris Illinois.

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