The top ranked Sun Devils fell to the fifth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners 6-3 tonight in Oceanside Arena.
The Sooners (15-8-4) were able to dominate ASU’s (25-5) top line all night, as they scored four goals on them.
“Their first four goals were just chances we can’t give up,” head coach Greg Powers said. “They buried the puck when they had the chance tonight and we didn’t…this could have easily happened last week. It was bound to happen.”
Powers also acknowledges that the team has struggled because they are banged up.
“It’s tough, it’s catching up to us, and guys are getting frustrated. We need to get guys back. We need to figure out how to get healthy,” Powers said.
The game was tied 3-3 going into the third period. However, the Sooners exploded for three goals in the final period. At 14:49, forward Justin Giles sent it home from the face-off circle. Forward Nicholas Power then scored a breakaway top shelf goal seven minutes later. Finally, defenseman Mason Miller scored the sixth goal to secure the Sooner’s biggest win of the season.
“You gotta have those saves there in the third, but we just couldn’t get them,” Powers said. “Our shots were even in the third, our scoring chances were even in the third, but we didn’t put the puck in and they did.”
The Sun Devils found themselves trailing early after two mistakes in their defensive zone. Oklahoma forward Brandon Dennis stole the puck in front of the net and beat D’Elia at the 9:40 mark. Two minutes later, another ASU turnover led to a goal as Sooner forward Anthony Cullen took the puck and backhanded it in.
However, the Sun Devils answered in the last minute of the period. Sooner goaltender Colin Fernandes lost his stick, which gave ASU a big offensive advantage. After getting multiple shots on net, the Sun Devils finally scored with 49 seconds remaining when Hekle poked a rebound in. Forty seconds later, Brian McGinty tied the game with a wicked slap shot in the slot. The game was tied 2-2 after one period of play.
In the second period both teams were able to score on the power play. At 8:08 Sooner forward Ryan Stouffer was able to send a quick wrister past D’Elia. Stephen Collins then answered for the Sun Devils at 3:03. Collins deked his way through defenders, and used some incredible stick work in front of the net to get the goal. This made the game tied 3-3 going into the final period.
The Sun Devils will host No. 17 University of Central Oklahoma Friday night at 8 p.m.
