COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – At 6,000-plus feet up, the Arizona State men's hockey team struggled to catch their breath out of the gates against Colorado College, as the Tigers rattled off three goals in a matter of five minutes at Broadmoor World Arena.
Despite firing 36 shots on goal, the Sun Devils (4-10-3) were stymied by Tiger goaltender Alex Leclerc in a 4-0 loss.
"Great game by their goalie," said head coach Greg Powers. "He made some really big saves. I bet if you look at the scoring chances, they're probably going to be even. We had a lot of 'Grade A's' that we just didn't put in the back of the net. The boys just have to bear down and figure out a way.
As eluded to by Powers, ASU wasn't short on scoring chances in the two programs' first ever meeting. The Devils had multiple opportunities that just wouldn't bounce their way.
Just over 10 minutes into the first period, Colorado College (8-7-2) capitalized on the first of several mistakes by the Sun Devils within the defensive zone. CC's Westin Michaud finished a backdoor pass from Zach Berzolla for the easy tap in and 1-0 lead.
Just 17 seconds later, Tigers' leading scorer Nick Halloran netted his eighth goal of the season to extend their lead to two. Three Tiger forwards were in front of ASU goalie Joey Daccord with not a defender in sight.
On their first power-play opportunity of the night, CC's Christiano Versich took advantage of another breakdown by the Devils. A turnaround pass from the left of Daccord found Versich's stick for the tap in on the backdoor and 3-0 lead.
"They're a good team and they played well," said Powers. "They made us pay for just simple mistakes that can't be made by the guys that made them. In those five minutes, they were incredibly opportunistic and it was too big of a hole to climb out of."
Despite trailing 3-0 through 20 minutes, the Sun Devils pursued and continued to fire off chance after chance on Leclerc, but couldn't find a chink in his armor.
A minute and 30 seconds into the second period, the Tigers scored their fourth and final goal of the game, as Michaud netted his second of the night. The puck found its way through traffic and passed Daccord.
The goal would end Daccord's night, as junior Ryland Pashovitz made his first appearance in the crease since Oct. 20 against Nebraska-Omaha.
Pashovitz finished the game with several good saves to keep the Tigers at bay, stopping all 28 shots to end the night.
The Sun Devils wrap up the two-game series with a matinee showdown on Sunday at 2 p.m. MST. The game can be watched live on NCHC.tv/cc.
Despite firing 36 shots on goal, the Sun Devils (4-10-3) were stymied by Tiger goaltender Alex Leclerc in a 4-0 loss.
"Great game by their goalie," said head coach Greg Powers. "He made some really big saves. I bet if you look at the scoring chances, they're probably going to be even. We had a lot of 'Grade A's' that we just didn't put in the back of the net. The boys just have to bear down and figure out a way.
As eluded to by Powers, ASU wasn't short on scoring chances in the two programs' first ever meeting. The Devils had multiple opportunities that just wouldn't bounce their way.
Just over 10 minutes into the first period, Colorado College (8-7-2) capitalized on the first of several mistakes by the Sun Devils within the defensive zone. CC's Westin Michaud finished a backdoor pass from Zach Berzolla for the easy tap in and 1-0 lead.
Just 17 seconds later, Tigers' leading scorer Nick Halloran netted his eighth goal of the season to extend their lead to two. Three Tiger forwards were in front of ASU goalie Joey Daccord with not a defender in sight.
On their first power-play opportunity of the night, CC's Christiano Versich took advantage of another breakdown by the Devils. A turnaround pass from the left of Daccord found Versich's stick for the tap in on the backdoor and 3-0 lead.
"They're a good team and they played well," said Powers. "They made us pay for just simple mistakes that can't be made by the guys that made them. In those five minutes, they were incredibly opportunistic and it was too big of a hole to climb out of."
Despite trailing 3-0 through 20 minutes, the Sun Devils pursued and continued to fire off chance after chance on Leclerc, but couldn't find a chink in his armor.
A minute and 30 seconds into the second period, the Tigers scored their fourth and final goal of the game, as Michaud netted his second of the night. The puck found its way through traffic and passed Daccord.
The goal would end Daccord's night, as junior Ryland Pashovitz made his first appearance in the crease since Oct. 20 against Nebraska-Omaha.
Pashovitz finished the game with several good saves to keep the Tigers at bay, stopping all 28 shots to end the night.
The Sun Devils wrap up the two-game series with a matinee showdown on Sunday at 2 p.m. MST. The game can be watched live on NCHC.tv/cc.