TEMPE, Ariz. – With a packed house at Oceanside Ice Arena, the Sun Devil hockey team returned home in style for a program-best 11 goals against Southern New Hampshire on Friday night.
Sophomore forward Anthony Croston – who totaled three goals so far this season – netted his first collegiate hat trick within the first 14 minutes. It was the program's first this season.
"It shows a lot of people how far we've come," said head coach Greg Powers. "You have to adjust as a young program and a young team, and you see them consistently play at that pace, it doesn't matter who you're playing. What our guys have to learn, in my opinion, is really good programs beat teams that they're supposed to beat consistently, and that's what we did before we were an NCAA team.
"I'm happy -- we had a convincing dominating effort, and in college hockey, you have to validate it and that's what we're going to do tomorrow."
The Phoenix-native got the night started on his own just 51 seconds into the game, as he went north up the length of the ice and fired a shot from the left circle that the SNHU goaltender couldn't react to fast enough.
Within the first two minutes, the Devils managed to find the back of the net two more times. Redshirt sophomore Louie Rowe got back to his scoring ways, putting one passed SNHU's Ryan Slatky just 36 seconds after Croston. Another 37 seconds later, sophomore Joe Lappin tallied his first goal since Dec. 16 against Massachusetts, redirecting a shot in front from fellow sophomore defenseman Liam McGing.
McGing also fired the initial shot that was tipped by Rowe just prior. The d-man finished his night with three assists and a whopping plus-minus of four.
Before the first period came to an end, ASU would score a total of eight goals, tying their season high in just the first 20 minutes. The final 10 minutes of the first frame included goals from freshmen Brett Gruber, Tyler Busch and Jakob Stridsberg, while Croston netted his final two for the hat trick.
The offense continued to roll downhill in the second, as they kept the foot on the gas pedal for an additional three goals to break their season and NCAA program best. Last season, the Devils put up a program best nine against the Penmen in October of 2015.
Goals from Rowe – his second of the night -- sophomore Dylan Hollman, and senior Ryan Belonger brought the score to the eventual final, 11-0. Belonger's top-shelf snipe became his first of the season.
ASU peppered all three of SNHU's goaltenders for a total of 60 shots on the night, which is also a new season and program best.
Sun Devil senior goaltender Robert Levin had his second-straight outing, and was stellar yet again for his first-career NCAA shutout. It is also the first and only shutout in the program's NCAA tenure.
Elsewhere on the stat sheet, Stridsberg ended his night with a rare plus-minus rating of seven.
The Devils enter game two on Saturday night with another 7:05 p.m. puck drop. The game will be streamed live on Pac-12.com/live.
Standing room tickets remain for Saturday's game on a first come, first serve basis at the door.
Sophomore forward Anthony Croston – who totaled three goals so far this season – netted his first collegiate hat trick within the first 14 minutes. It was the program's first this season.
"It shows a lot of people how far we've come," said head coach Greg Powers. "You have to adjust as a young program and a young team, and you see them consistently play at that pace, it doesn't matter who you're playing. What our guys have to learn, in my opinion, is really good programs beat teams that they're supposed to beat consistently, and that's what we did before we were an NCAA team.
"I'm happy -- we had a convincing dominating effort, and in college hockey, you have to validate it and that's what we're going to do tomorrow."
The Phoenix-native got the night started on his own just 51 seconds into the game, as he went north up the length of the ice and fired a shot from the left circle that the SNHU goaltender couldn't react to fast enough.
Within the first two minutes, the Devils managed to find the back of the net two more times. Redshirt sophomore Louie Rowe got back to his scoring ways, putting one passed SNHU's Ryan Slatky just 36 seconds after Croston. Another 37 seconds later, sophomore Joe Lappin tallied his first goal since Dec. 16 against Massachusetts, redirecting a shot in front from fellow sophomore defenseman Liam McGing.
McGing also fired the initial shot that was tipped by Rowe just prior. The d-man finished his night with three assists and a whopping plus-minus of four.
Before the first period came to an end, ASU would score a total of eight goals, tying their season high in just the first 20 minutes. The final 10 minutes of the first frame included goals from freshmen Brett Gruber, Tyler Busch and Jakob Stridsberg, while Croston netted his final two for the hat trick.
The offense continued to roll downhill in the second, as they kept the foot on the gas pedal for an additional three goals to break their season and NCAA program best. Last season, the Devils put up a program best nine against the Penmen in October of 2015.
Goals from Rowe – his second of the night -- sophomore Dylan Hollman, and senior Ryan Belonger brought the score to the eventual final, 11-0. Belonger's top-shelf snipe became his first of the season.
ASU peppered all three of SNHU's goaltenders for a total of 60 shots on the night, which is also a new season and program best.
Sun Devil senior goaltender Robert Levin had his second-straight outing, and was stellar yet again for his first-career NCAA shutout. It is also the first and only shutout in the program's NCAA tenure.
Elsewhere on the stat sheet, Stridsberg ended his night with a rare plus-minus rating of seven.
The Devils enter game two on Saturday night with another 7:05 p.m. puck drop. The game will be streamed live on Pac-12.com/live.
Standing room tickets remain for Saturday's game on a first come, first serve basis at the door.