Perfection no more

With semester finals approaching across the country, the Arizona State Sun Devils could not maintain a 4.0 GPA on the ice on Friday night. The Sun Devils suffered their first loss of the season against NCAA division I opponent Penn State.

Apparently the ACHA and NCAA are not on the same level, even though the Sun Devils are the best in their league. The Nittany Lions handed the Sun Devils their first flunk of the semester after an 8-3 victory.

ASU did have a 1-0 lead after 18 minutes of play on a goal from senior Dan Styrna, but Penn State caught a break on the power play and evened the score at one apiece before the period ended.

It was a different story in the second twenty minutes. The Nittany Lions were hungry and feasted on three goals in the first six minutes of the period. ASU goaltender Joe D’Elia was relieved from his duties after surrendering four goals, but Kyle Dietriech couldn’t stop PSU’s attack either.

Give the Sun Devils credit, though. Despite their lack of defense and goaltending, they tried to make a comeback after Colin Hekle connected on a backdoor pass to Faiz Khan. Khan finished with two points in the loss and Styrna picked up his second goal of the game, and fourth in his last four games, to pull the Sun Devils back to a 5-3 deficit.

It would not matter how much offense the Sun Devils displayed because Penn State scored a season-high eight goals and peppered 52 shots on goal, including a hat trick performance from leading scorer David Glen.

Glen wasn’t the only freshman who had a good night. Goaltender Matthew Skoff denied 24 of ASU’s 27 shots to pick up his third win of the season. The team from Happy Valley put a dagger in Sparky after they went 3-3 on its power play chances. The maroon and gold went 0-1 on their lone chance with a man advantage.

Fortunately, this loss will not affect ASU’s ACHA standings because this weekend is considered an “exhibition” series against a non-ACHA opponent.

The Sun Devils were simply outmatched Friday night in Pennsylvania, but they have a chance to make up for the night’s performance on Saturday. The puck drops Saturday night at 5:30 p.m. Arizona time.

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post

Nick Marek

Recent Posts

Skinner’s career night propels ASU to narrow victory in season opener

(Photo credit: Aishling Cavanaugh/WCSN) TEMPE — With Desert Financial Arena buzzing, Arizona State found itself…

9 hours ago

Sun Devils prepare for Big 12 debut in Adair’s third year

(Photo credit: Marina Willams/WCSN) Excitement is brewing for Arizona State women’s basketball as the Sun…

22 hours ago

Sun Devils put up complete performance in fall exhibition against GCU

(Photo: Maya Diaz/WCSN) As warmup music echoed throughout GCU ballpark, baseball bats pinged and cleats…

2 days ago

Takeaways: Sun Devils Clinch Bowl Eligibility With Win Over Oklahoma State

With 22 seconds remaining in the first half Arizona State football found itself a single…

3 days ago

No. 13 Sun Devils Extend Win Streak to 10, Earn Season Sweep Over No. 22 Utah

(Photo: Katherine Gore/WCSN) In a match one month ago, No. 13 Arizona State Volleyball won…

3 days ago

Sun Devil arms against pros in exhibition against USA Baseball

(Photo: Austin Hurst/WCSN) PHOENIX - Senior right-handed pitcher Jack Martinez walked off the mound in…

3 days ago