WORCESTER, Mass. – Sun Devil Hockey captured their first series win of the season behind a 3-3 tie against Holy Cross, who received votes in the USCHO top-20 poll, on Saturday at Hart Ice Center. It was the first series won by the Devils (3-8-3) since December of 2016.
After a 1-0 and 3-1 deficit, ASU overcame adversity and rallied to tie the game on both occasions.
"I'm really proud of our guys," said head coach Greg Powers. "I thought we didn't play an undisciplined game, but we found ourselves on the kill quite a lot and our kill was unreal. We battled through a ton of adversity. We know that's a really good team with a lot of upperclassmen leadership, so we knew how hard they were going to come out tonight, and they did.
"We found a way to match it over the course of 60 minutes, and we completely dominated the overtime and put our foot on the gas, but couldn't find the one to put us ahead for good."
Just nine seconds into the game, right off the face-off, Holy Cross struck first and took the early 1-0 lead for the second-straight night.
A minute and two seconds later, freshman forward Johnny Walker answered right back with a snipe passed senior goalie Ryan Berrafato for his third goal of the season and second in as many nights.
In the second period, Holy Cross again came out firing with two goals in two minutes before the halfway point of the middle frame. A missed assignment and backdoor tap in led to a 3-1 Crusader lead – their biggest of the weekend.
Just like in the first period, the Sun Devils found a way to get back into the game. Nearly six minutes after Holy Cross' third tally, sophomore defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk blasted one so hard that Berrafato couldn't hold on, as the puck went in and out of his glove and into the back of the net to cut the deficit to one.
Fifty-one seconds later, sophomore forward Brett Gruber put a shot through traffic and passed Berrafato to knot the game at three.
In the final period, the Devils continued to swarm on the Crusaders, nearly getting the go-ahead goal several times.
Special teams kept ASU in the game for the second-straight night, as the Devils killed six penalties for a perfect 11-for-11 on the weekend. It was also the second-straight night they had to kill a five-minute major in the middle of the game.
The penalty kill is now ranked 18th in the country at 84.4%.
Between the pipes, sophomore Joey Daccord made it five-straight games with 30-plus saves, as he stopped 39 shots.
The Sun Devils now enjoy a week off before hosting Princeton at Oceanside Ice Arena on Dec. 8-9.
"The guys need rest and recovery more than anything, and we're going to give it to them," said Powers. "By midweek, we'll dial it back in and enjoy the weekend off. We have a great Princeton team coming in, and they're going to be really good."
After a 1-0 and 3-1 deficit, ASU overcame adversity and rallied to tie the game on both occasions.
"I'm really proud of our guys," said head coach Greg Powers. "I thought we didn't play an undisciplined game, but we found ourselves on the kill quite a lot and our kill was unreal. We battled through a ton of adversity. We know that's a really good team with a lot of upperclassmen leadership, so we knew how hard they were going to come out tonight, and they did.
"We found a way to match it over the course of 60 minutes, and we completely dominated the overtime and put our foot on the gas, but couldn't find the one to put us ahead for good."
Just nine seconds into the game, right off the face-off, Holy Cross struck first and took the early 1-0 lead for the second-straight night.
A minute and two seconds later, freshman forward Johnny Walker answered right back with a snipe passed senior goalie Ryan Berrafato for his third goal of the season and second in as many nights.
In the second period, Holy Cross again came out firing with two goals in two minutes before the halfway point of the middle frame. A missed assignment and backdoor tap in led to a 3-1 Crusader lead – their biggest of the weekend.
Just like in the first period, the Sun Devils found a way to get back into the game. Nearly six minutes after Holy Cross' third tally, sophomore defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk blasted one so hard that Berrafato couldn't hold on, as the puck went in and out of his glove and into the back of the net to cut the deficit to one.
Fifty-one seconds later, sophomore forward Brett Gruber put a shot through traffic and passed Berrafato to knot the game at three.
In the final period, the Devils continued to swarm on the Crusaders, nearly getting the go-ahead goal several times.
Special teams kept ASU in the game for the second-straight night, as the Devils killed six penalties for a perfect 11-for-11 on the weekend. It was also the second-straight night they had to kill a five-minute major in the middle of the game.
The penalty kill is now ranked 18th in the country at 84.4%.
Between the pipes, sophomore Joey Daccord made it five-straight games with 30-plus saves, as he stopped 39 shots.
The Sun Devils now enjoy a week off before hosting Princeton at Oceanside Ice Arena on Dec. 8-9.
"The guys need rest and recovery more than anything, and we're going to give it to them," said Powers. "By midweek, we'll dial it back in and enjoy the weekend off. We have a great Princeton team coming in, and they're going to be really good."