No. 11 ASU suffers third-period meltdown against No. 19 College College in 5-4 loss

(Photo: Marina Williams/WCSN)

TEMPE — One week prior, the Sun Devils were up 4-1 with around 14 minutes left in the second game of their road series at St. Cloud State. Rather than cruising to victory though, two late goals by the Huskies forced ASU to hang on for dear life until ultimately winning 5-3.

Fast-forward to Saturday night, the same scenario played out again. Arizona State took an early 1-0 lead off a one-timer from senior forward Ryan Kirwan while dominating puck possession in the first period. Although things began to even out during the next two periods, another goal by Kirwan on top of assisting two scores from junior forward Charlie Schoen ensured that all the Sun Devils had to do was sit on the 4-1 lead and wait it out. This time however, they weren’t so lucky.

No. 11 Arizona State (14-9-1, 9-5 NCHC) let up four unanswered goals in the final thirteen minutes and thirty six seconds of regulation against No. 19 Colorado College (12-11-1, 6-7-1 NCHC) to lose 5-4 and settle for a series split.

“We looked like we were gonna run away with it, but we didn’t get it done,” head coach Greg Powers said. “They were desperate, and we looked like a team that took winning for granted.”

Despite notching four goals, the game overall was not a great showing for the Sun Devils’ offense. The team was outshot 56 to 34 in the final two periods including putting up nine less shots on-target while watching zone entry and puck possession vanish in the blink of an eye.

As a result, ASU required more help than usual from junior goaltender Gibson Homer. After senior Luke Pavicich turned in a strong performance en route to a game one victory, Powers gave the reins back to Homer who had won his last four starts in net following a loss at Colorado College in early November.

The netminder was a complete brick wall to start, saving 25 shots and shutting out Colorado College through the first two periods. However, constant pressure in his own zone led to Homer having 16 shots on goal come his way in the last 20 minutes of play alone. Cracks began to appear when the Tigers scored their first goal 19 seconds into the final period before eventually spiraling into five goals given up.

Although he made some big saves, Powers didn’t feel that the team was reliant on Homer during the game.

“I think a lot of his big saves were on the kill, and they were saves that we expect a goalie to make,” Powers said. “You know, with cross ice passes where he’s got a long time to get over. But no, I don’t think so.”

A familiar issue for Arizona State in the face-off circle also reared its head. The Sun Devils only won 17 out of 55 (30%) of their total faceoffs. More specifically, they lost 20 of the 28 faceoffs to take place in the Tigers attack zone.

Regardless of the disappointing finish to the series, ASU can hang its hat on two outstanding individual performances. Ryan Kirwan’s two goals and two assists puts him on a streak of notching a point in four straight contests along with making him the team-leader in points.

On the other hand, junior forward Charlie Schoen erupted for two goals to reassert himself as a top scoring threat after overcoming injury throughout the first half of the season.

“I’m super grateful to play with these guys,” Schoen said. “They make it easier for me. So, I just head out with my stick on the ice and they put it right where I need it to be.”

The Sun Devils’ special teams also continues to be the team’s upper hand. ASU recorded a power play goal for the eighth straight game while also going 4-for-4 on the penalty kill, although the shorthanded success may have been a pyrrhic victory.

“You don’t want to see it as much as we saw it,” Powers said. “We killed so much in the second that they gassed some of our guys, right? And it just messes with the flow of the game.”

The home loss forces Arizona State to relinquish the first place spot in the NCHC standings to No. 3 Western Michigan who now possess two more points than the Sun Devils. The team also takes a sizable hit in the PairWise Rankings, dropping from 10th to 14th.

With five regular season series remaining including the likes of No. 5 Denver and No. 3 Western Michigan, the question isn’t whether ASU has enough time to climb its way back to the top of the conference. It lies in whether or not the team learns from this puzzling collapse because winning the NCHC title and making it to the NCAA tournament requires finishing what you started.

“It’s a great lesson because it’s hard to win,” Powers said. “It’s hard to win in this league. It’s hard to win in college hockey. You go up 4-1 and you think it’s going to be easy. And again, credit to them. They didn’t go away and found a way to claw back and get a big win from us.”