OMAHA, Neb. – The Arizona State Sun Devil Hockey Team dropped a tightly-contested, back-and-forth affair to Nebraska-Omaha, 6-4 (EN), Friday evening at Baxter Arena.
The game consisted of four lead changes and four ties, with the Mavericks eventually coming out on top. The home side scored two goals over the final five-minutes, one of which was of the empty net variety to seal the victory. The Sun Devils showed resiliency throughout the contest, originally fighting back from a 2-1 deficit before storming back from a 3-2 hole to take a 4-3 lead.
Junior Brinson Pasichnuk was one of several individual standouts, as the defenseman got involved offensively to the tune of three points. Pasichnuk's second-period goal, assisted by his brother, Steenn Pasichnuk, pulled the Sun Devils even with the Mavericks with 6:41 to go in the second period. Pasichnuk was also involved on the Sun Devil's second goal of the period, a beautifully executed sequence of passing that ended with an Austin Lemieux shot whizzing by the Omaha goaltender Evan Weninger off a well-placed drop pass from freshman forward Demetrios Koumontzis.
Brinson Pasichnuk was joined in the scoring column by junior forward Brett Gruber, who got the Sun Devil attack started early in this one. Gruber found some space and pulled the trigger without hesitation off a pass from freshman defender Joshua Maniscalco. Gruber's goal came 55 seconds into the game, the quickest into a game that a Sun Devil has scored this season. The Mavericks would respond with a push after falling behind, as to be expected of a team playing on their home ice coming off a 4-2 victory over Western Michigan. Two Mavericks goals were a result of that push, the second of which on the power play, would provide a 2-1 lead for Omaha after the first period.
Owning a majority of the play to start the second period, the Sun Devils put a shot on net and were rewarded. Brinson Pasichnuk recorded his second point of the game as his shot from the point bounced off a Maverick defender in front and past Weninger to erase the 2-1 lead. Keeping with the theme of the evening, the Mavericks bounced back and re-took the league five minutes later, as the contested battle continued on. Redshirt freshman forward Austin Lemieux scored his third goal of the season, converting on some beautiful teamwork that left Lemieux open for the scoring chance.
A great effort from the Sun Devil penalty kill to start the third period gave them their first lead since going up, 1-0, on Gruber's in the first minute of the game. Redshirt senior forward Dylan Hollman scored shorthanded, recording his seventh goal over his last nine games after being held without a goal through the first five games of the season. Hollman's third period goal came at the perfect time, as it broke a 3-3 tie gave the Sun Devils their first lead since they went up 1-0 just a minute in. The goal represented the second shorthanded goal of the season for ASU.
Still on the power play, Omaha would respond as Taylor Ward cashed in on the man advantage to tie the game for the fourth time. A final push from the Mavericks in front of their home crowd proved to be enough, as Frederik Olofsson scored his second goal of the game to put the home team ahead 5-4. The Sun Devils managed to apply pressure in the final minutes, including when playing with an empty net. Omaha tacked on an empty net goal and captured the victory, 6-4.
The Sun Devils proved last weekend they can bounce back from a loss on Friday night and they look to do the same Saturday as they take on the Omaha Mavericks at Baxter Arena at 7:07 P.M. (CST) or 6:07 P.M. (AZT). Watch live via NCHC.TV and follow along with live updates via @SunDevilHockey on Twitter.
The game consisted of four lead changes and four ties, with the Mavericks eventually coming out on top. The home side scored two goals over the final five-minutes, one of which was of the empty net variety to seal the victory. The Sun Devils showed resiliency throughout the contest, originally fighting back from a 2-1 deficit before storming back from a 3-2 hole to take a 4-3 lead.
Junior Brinson Pasichnuk was one of several individual standouts, as the defenseman got involved offensively to the tune of three points. Pasichnuk's second-period goal, assisted by his brother, Steenn Pasichnuk, pulled the Sun Devils even with the Mavericks with 6:41 to go in the second period. Pasichnuk was also involved on the Sun Devil's second goal of the period, a beautifully executed sequence of passing that ended with an Austin Lemieux shot whizzing by the Omaha goaltender Evan Weninger off a well-placed drop pass from freshman forward Demetrios Koumontzis.
Brinson Pasichnuk was joined in the scoring column by junior forward Brett Gruber, who got the Sun Devil attack started early in this one. Gruber found some space and pulled the trigger without hesitation off a pass from freshman defender Joshua Maniscalco. Gruber's goal came 55 seconds into the game, the quickest into a game that a Sun Devil has scored this season. The Mavericks would respond with a push after falling behind, as to be expected of a team playing on their home ice coming off a 4-2 victory over Western Michigan. Two Mavericks goals were a result of that push, the second of which on the power play, would provide a 2-1 lead for Omaha after the first period.
Owning a majority of the play to start the second period, the Sun Devils put a shot on net and were rewarded. Brinson Pasichnuk recorded his second point of the game as his shot from the point bounced off a Maverick defender in front and past Weninger to erase the 2-1 lead. Keeping with the theme of the evening, the Mavericks bounced back and re-took the league five minutes later, as the contested battle continued on. Redshirt freshman forward Austin Lemieux scored his third goal of the season, converting on some beautiful teamwork that left Lemieux open for the scoring chance.
A great effort from the Sun Devil penalty kill to start the third period gave them their first lead since going up, 1-0, on Gruber's in the first minute of the game. Redshirt senior forward Dylan Hollman scored shorthanded, recording his seventh goal over his last nine games after being held without a goal through the first five games of the season. Hollman's third period goal came at the perfect time, as it broke a 3-3 tie gave the Sun Devils their first lead since they went up 1-0 just a minute in. The goal represented the second shorthanded goal of the season for ASU.
Still on the power play, Omaha would respond as Taylor Ward cashed in on the man advantage to tie the game for the fourth time. A final push from the Mavericks in front of their home crowd proved to be enough, as Frederik Olofsson scored his second goal of the game to put the home team ahead 5-4. The Sun Devils managed to apply pressure in the final minutes, including when playing with an empty net. Omaha tacked on an empty net goal and captured the victory, 6-4.
The Sun Devils proved last weekend they can bounce back from a loss on Friday night and they look to do the same Saturday as they take on the Omaha Mavericks at Baxter Arena at 7:07 P.M. (CST) or 6:07 P.M. (AZT). Watch live via NCHC.TV and follow along with live updates via @SunDevilHockey on Twitter.