IRVINE, Calif. -- After falling into a three-goal deficit to No. 17 Harvard, the No. 16/14 Sun Devils rallied in the final two periods with two sets of unanswered back-to-back goals to pull out a 4-4 tie in the finale of the SoCal Clash series.
In front of another 2,000-plus crowd, the Sun Devils (10-7-3) again peppered Harvard (7-4-1) freshman netminder Mitchell Gibson and finally found the chink in his armor with four goals in a 24 minute span between the second and third periods.
"That's a great tie, we hate ties, but to come back from being down three goals against a top-10 team and out playing them drastically in the last two periods is huge," said head coach Greg Powers. "We could've easily won that game, but to come back and get the tie is something the team can be proud of themselves for."
HOW IT HAPPENED:
In front of another 2,000-plus crowd, the Sun Devils (10-7-3) again peppered Harvard (7-4-1) freshman netminder Mitchell Gibson and finally found the chink in his armor with four goals in a 24 minute span between the second and third periods.
"That's a great tie, we hate ties, but to come back from being down three goals against a top-10 team and out playing them drastically in the last two periods is huge," said head coach Greg Powers. "We could've easily won that game, but to come back and get the tie is something the team can be proud of themselves for."
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- For the second-straight night, it was Harvard jumping out in front and all over the Sun Devils with two goals in the first period from Ryan Siedem and Casey Dornbach. Less than 3 minutes into the 2nd, Jack Rathbone added another for good measure as the Crimson were rolling 3-0. Head coach Greg Powers pulled Max Prawdzik for Saturday's starter Evan DeBrouwer following the third goal.
- Three minutes into the second period, sophomore defenseman Josh Maniscalco took a slapshot from the inside of the right circle to give the Sun Devils light, cutting the Harvard lead to 3-1.
- Just over a minute later, the Sun Devils continued to apply pressure and redshirt sophomore Austin Lemieux tapped in a rebound for his first goal since Nov. 30 against Vermont.
- ASU continued to buzz, creating several chances to try and knot the game up at three, but a fortuitous pass bounced perfectly off the boards for Nick Abruzzese to split the defensemen for a 1-on-1 with DeBrouwer. He put it home 5-hole and the Crimson regained their two-goal cushion.
- The Sun Devils weren't going down as freshman defenseman Jacob Semik took a shot from the point and junior forward Willie Knierim was right in front for the tip to beat Gibson.
- Again in short spurts, the Sun Devils finally managed to tie up the game as sophomore PJ Marrocco found himself in the right place at the right time, burying a rebound to tie the game at four with 12 minutes left in regulation.