Recap by Justin Gaither & Liesl Babicka, Sun Devil Athletics Interns
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Following one of the largest milestones in program history just under a week ago, Sun Devil Hockey (8-3-0) kept the ball rolling with a hard-earned win over Michigan State (4-3-0) on Friday night at Oceanside Ice Arena.
The game got off to a slow start, but picked up the pace after the first 20 minutes with a shootout in the final two periods. Sparky outlasted Sparty for a 5-4 win behind freshman Jordan Sandhu's three-point night.
"It was a hard fought win and that's exactly what I told the guys," said head coach Greg Powers. "That's nothing else but a team win, that's a really good team that we found a way to win. I'm proud of our guys."
Though the final score contained nine combined goals, it was the shots on goal that read just nine combined shots after the first period of play as both teams struggled to find any sort of offensive rhythm early on.
A little under halfway through the second stanza, however, the Devils finally found paydirt. It was freshman forward PJ Marrocco who finally broke the stalemate putting home a loose puck in front while on the power play to give ASU the 1-0 lead.
The pressure didn't let up there, as just 42 seconds later Steenn Pasichnuk beat Michigan State netminder John Lethemon from the high slot to quickly double the ASU's lead.
In the following 10 minutes, the Spartans had their best offensive push of the night, scoring three goals in rapid succession to take a 3-2 lead. Just as Michigan State appeared to take over momentum, the Latvian native Filips Buncis recorded his first goal of the year to knot the game up at three heading into the second intermission.
"Buncis has done an unbelievable job," said Powers. "He got a big assist on our first goal and a goal that tied it back up, and he was our unsung hero tonight there's no doubt about that."
The third period started off similar to the first with nearly 10 minutes going by and nothing to show for it. With just under 11 minutes left, the third Sun Devil of the night recorded his first goal of the season, as freshman Jordan Sandhu buried a loose puck for his first NCAA goal, putting ASU back in front 4-3.
The penalty kill once again stole the show for the Sun Devils, as they successfully killed off all three penalties they faced while the power play unit capitalized on one of their three opportunities.
Coach Powers' squad displayed their ability to spread the wealth once again as 10 Devils found their way onto the scorecard, including Jordan Sandhu's first career goal and first career multi-point game.
"It was nice to score five goals and Johnny didn't get one," said Powers. "Gruber, Lemieux and Sandu hadn't played a shift together all season long and it worked getting us two huge goals to put Michigan State on their backs and we got a win."
The win moved the Devils to 8-3-0 on the season, matching their win total from last year and continuing the team's early dominance.
Sparky and Sparty meet again tomorrow night at Oceanside Ice Arena with puck drop scheduled for 7:05 p.m. MST. Tickets are sold out.
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Following one of the largest milestones in program history just under a week ago, Sun Devil Hockey (8-3-0) kept the ball rolling with a hard-earned win over Michigan State (4-3-0) on Friday night at Oceanside Ice Arena.
The game got off to a slow start, but picked up the pace after the first 20 minutes with a shootout in the final two periods. Sparky outlasted Sparty for a 5-4 win behind freshman Jordan Sandhu's three-point night.
"It was a hard fought win and that's exactly what I told the guys," said head coach Greg Powers. "That's nothing else but a team win, that's a really good team that we found a way to win. I'm proud of our guys."
Though the final score contained nine combined goals, it was the shots on goal that read just nine combined shots after the first period of play as both teams struggled to find any sort of offensive rhythm early on.
A little under halfway through the second stanza, however, the Devils finally found paydirt. It was freshman forward PJ Marrocco who finally broke the stalemate putting home a loose puck in front while on the power play to give ASU the 1-0 lead.
Just give it a little tappy, tap, tap, taparoo. pic.twitter.com/bfLXDnPHKn
— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) November 10, 2018
The pressure didn't let up there, as just 42 seconds later Steenn Pasichnuk beat Michigan State netminder John Lethemon from the high slot to quickly double the ASU's lead.
In the following 10 minutes, the Spartans had their best offensive push of the night, scoring three goals in rapid succession to take a 3-2 lead. Just as Michigan State appeared to take over momentum, the Latvian native Filips Buncis recorded his first goal of the year to knot the game up at three heading into the second intermission.
Buncis, who has been the team's 19th skater for the majority of the season, played a huge role in the win with his goal and assist on the game's opening tally.First one of the season for the Latvian forward! pic.twitter.com/B0bBW9dW9f
— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) November 10, 2018
"Buncis has done an unbelievable job," said Powers. "He got a big assist on our first goal and a goal that tied it back up, and he was our unsung hero tonight there's no doubt about that."
The third period started off similar to the first with nearly 10 minutes going by and nothing to show for it. With just under 11 minutes left, the third Sun Devil of the night recorded his first goal of the season, as freshman Jordan Sandhu buried a loose puck for his first NCAA goal, putting ASU back in front 4-3.
The quick strike offense kicked in once again as just minutes later junior forward Brett Gruber finished off a beautiful tic-tac-toe play from freshman Austin Lemieux and Sandhu that once again doubled ASU's lead with just over seven minutes left to play.We like it, UH-LOT! pic.twitter.com/NKi4u0bhIO
— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) November 10, 2018
Again, the Spartans didn't go away and answered a few minutes later to cut the lead in half. This time, ASU held off the Spartans' rally despite the extra attacker in the final minute for the victory.??O ??
— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) November 10, 2018
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The penalty kill once again stole the show for the Sun Devils, as they successfully killed off all three penalties they faced while the power play unit capitalized on one of their three opportunities.
Coach Powers' squad displayed their ability to spread the wealth once again as 10 Devils found their way onto the scorecard, including Jordan Sandhu's first career goal and first career multi-point game.
"It was nice to score five goals and Johnny didn't get one," said Powers. "Gruber, Lemieux and Sandu hadn't played a shift together all season long and it worked getting us two huge goals to put Michigan State on their backs and we got a win."
The win moved the Devils to 8-3-0 on the season, matching their win total from last year and continuing the team's early dominance.
Sparky and Sparty meet again tomorrow night at Oceanside Ice Arena with puck drop scheduled for 7:05 p.m. MST. Tickets are sold out.