ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- On a historical night for Arizona State hockey, the No. 14/13 Sun Devils didn't go away without a fight against No. 2 regional seed Quinnipiac at PPL Center Saturday night in Allentown, Pa. After a 2-0 deficit to the Bobcats (26-9-2) through 40 minutes, ASU junior defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk netted the program's first postseason goal to cut Quinnipiac's lead in half with 8:18 remaining in regulation.
A flurry of opportunities ensued in the final eight minutes, including a third ringer off the post and a loose puck in the crease, but the Bobcats held on to a 2-1 victory.
"I just sum up the year as one huge family that came together really early on and knew that we could do something special," said Pasichnuk. "If you have five seniors like these guys, when they are ending their career, and if you have been even half the contributor as they were, you can look back at yourself and know that you had a very impactful and successful college career. I'll miss them so much."
Seniors and founding fathers Anthony Croston, Dylan Hollman, Jake Clifford and Jakob Stridsberg played in their final game as members of the Sun Devils, leaving the program better than they left it.
"We have been through everything together, us seniors, and it has been one hell of a ride," said Croston. "I am just lucky to even be here. It is definitely special that I am able to play Division I hockey at Arizona State because it is something that I never thought of growing up. When the opportunity came, I jumped right on it and it was nothing but amazing to me."
Less than a minute into the game, Croston and Hollman's line with sophomore forward Filips Buncis nearly put ASU on the board first on a shot off the post.
Four minutes later, Quinnipiac grabbed the first lead as Joe O'Connor fired a quick shot during a battle for the puck that caught Mike Richter finalist and junior goaltender Joey Daccord off guard and slid under him as he went down.
The Devils developed several more grade 'A' scoring chances during the first, but the Bobcats would strike again six minutes into the second period. Alex Whelan fired a shot on Daccord from the bottom of the left circle, and the rebound kicked out in front for William Fallstrom to elevate over Daccord for the 2-0 lead.
Arizona State had a handful of opportunities as the team fought back the rest of the night including sophomore forward Johnny Walker hitting the post and a 2-on-1 odd-man rush.
With eight minutes remaining in the game, and the Sun Devils pressuring, Pasichnuk took matters into his own hands, creating space before firing a slapshot from the top of the slot through traffic that beat fellow Mike Richter finalist Andrew Shortridge.
From there on, ASU continued to apply pressure and developed three more scoring chances including another post and a loose puck in the crease that wasn't covered for nearly 10 seconds.
With the three-minute mark approaching, a review on a hit resulted in a 5-minute major on freshman Jarrod Gourley that put the Sun Devils down a man for the remainder of regulation.
Despite being down a man, the Sun Devils continued controlling the period, and Powers pulled Daccord in the final minute and change to get back to 5-on-5. Several chances developed but nothing that found twine.
ASU finished their historic season 21-13-1.
"To make a national tournament in our third, full season is a special accomplishment that no one else but our locker room thought that we could do," said head coach Greg Powers. "We knew pretty early in the season that we had a pretty good team that could do some very special things.
"Anyone that says that we didn't belong here or think that we didn't deserve the right to be here is wrong and they couldn't be more wrong. Our guys deserve to be here because they are as good as anybody and we have proven that all year. I think we proved that tonight with how we didn't go away and how we came back and nearly tied that thing up. I think that the takeaway is that we all know that we are going to be back and it will be sooner than later."
A flurry of opportunities ensued in the final eight minutes, including a third ringer off the post and a loose puck in the crease, but the Bobcats held on to a 2-1 victory.
"I just sum up the year as one huge family that came together really early on and knew that we could do something special," said Pasichnuk. "If you have five seniors like these guys, when they are ending their career, and if you have been even half the contributor as they were, you can look back at yourself and know that you had a very impactful and successful college career. I'll miss them so much."
Seniors and founding fathers Anthony Croston, Dylan Hollman, Jake Clifford and Jakob Stridsberg played in their final game as members of the Sun Devils, leaving the program better than they left it.
"We have been through everything together, us seniors, and it has been one hell of a ride," said Croston. "I am just lucky to even be here. It is definitely special that I am able to play Division I hockey at Arizona State because it is something that I never thought of growing up. When the opportunity came, I jumped right on it and it was nothing but amazing to me."
Less than a minute into the game, Croston and Hollman's line with sophomore forward Filips Buncis nearly put ASU on the board first on a shot off the post.
Four minutes later, Quinnipiac grabbed the first lead as Joe O'Connor fired a quick shot during a battle for the puck that caught Mike Richter finalist and junior goaltender Joey Daccord off guard and slid under him as he went down.
The Devils developed several more grade 'A' scoring chances during the first, but the Bobcats would strike again six minutes into the second period. Alex Whelan fired a shot on Daccord from the bottom of the left circle, and the rebound kicked out in front for William Fallstrom to elevate over Daccord for the 2-0 lead.
Arizona State had a handful of opportunities as the team fought back the rest of the night including sophomore forward Johnny Walker hitting the post and a 2-on-1 odd-man rush.
With eight minutes remaining in the game, and the Sun Devils pressuring, Pasichnuk took matters into his own hands, creating space before firing a slapshot from the top of the slot through traffic that beat fellow Mike Richter finalist Andrew Shortridge.
From there on, ASU continued to apply pressure and developed three more scoring chances including another post and a loose puck in the crease that wasn't covered for nearly 10 seconds.
With the three-minute mark approaching, a review on a hit resulted in a 5-minute major on freshman Jarrod Gourley that put the Sun Devils down a man for the remainder of regulation.
Despite being down a man, the Sun Devils continued controlling the period, and Powers pulled Daccord in the final minute and change to get back to 5-on-5. Several chances developed but nothing that found twine.
ASU finished their historic season 21-13-1.
"To make a national tournament in our third, full season is a special accomplishment that no one else but our locker room thought that we could do," said head coach Greg Powers. "We knew pretty early in the season that we had a pretty good team that could do some very special things.
"Anyone that says that we didn't belong here or think that we didn't deserve the right to be here is wrong and they couldn't be more wrong. Our guys deserve to be here because they are as good as anybody and we have proven that all year. I think we proved that tonight with how we didn't go away and how we came back and nearly tied that thing up. I think that the takeaway is that we all know that we are going to be back and it will be sooner than later."