TEMPE, Ariz. -- Coming off their first series of 2020, No. 15/16 Sun Devil Hockey heads east for their first east coast road trip of the season as they travel to Rhode Island to face Brown University for another Saturday and Sunday series.
The Sun Devils (11-8-3) face the Bears (3-11-0) for the first time since Dec. 2016 when ASU hosted the second Desert Hockey Classic tournament in Prescott Valley, Arizona where the two teams scored a combined 16 goals in an overtime tie. In those eight goals scored by the Sun Devils, senior defenseman Brinson Pasichunk and forward Brett Gruber are the only remaining players from that game who tallied a point.
"The good news right now is that we control our own destiny," said head coach Greg Powers. "We have 14 games in front of us, and a majority of which if we play to our capacity and potential, we should win. That's just the blunt truth. We control our destiny, and if we don't take care of business starting Saturday at Brown, then we don't deserve to even talk about going to the tournament."
Sun Devil Rewind
In their first home series of the new decade, the Sun Devils fought to a split against Michigan Tech after winning the first game 4-3. They finished this last stretch of 10 games -- eight of which came against teams in the top-20 in the pairwise rankings -- with a 4-4-2 record.
The Sun Devils second line of PJ Marrocco, Filips Buncis and Austin Lemieux has been on fire as of late, recording 12 points in their first three games as a trio. Marrocco is on a three-game point streak, while recording four goals and three assists in his last five games.
Junior forward James Sanchez remains atop the Sun Devil scoring rankings, as he is tied for sixth in the country with 25 points while junior linemate Johnny Walker is tied for ninth with 24 points.
On the third line, junior forward Willie Knierim has a goal in his last three games, setting a new collegiate personal record with seven goals this season.
Brown Bears
Brown will be coming off their seventh-straight loss after a 3-2 overtime loss at Boston University Wednesday night. The Bears jumped out early to a 2-0 lead through the first 15 minutes before the Terriers scored three unanswered.
The power play went 1-for-4 in the game, and is 2-for-7 in the last two games. The Bears unit ranks 14th in the country with a 22.5% success rate.
Led by head coach Brendan Whittet, the Bears have won three games this season, all coming against conference opponents -- Yale, Colgate and St. Lawrence.
Sophomore forward Justin Jallen leads the squad with eight goals and senior defenseman Zach Giuttari has six assists for the Bears. Between the pipes, Gavin Nieto has played in 12 games with a .904 save percentage and 2.93 goals against average.
Puck drop Saturday night is 5:00 p.m. (MST) and Sunday afternoon is 2:00 p.m. (MST). Both games will be aired on ESPN+, while Sunday is also on NESN.
The Sun Devils (11-8-3) face the Bears (3-11-0) for the first time since Dec. 2016 when ASU hosted the second Desert Hockey Classic tournament in Prescott Valley, Arizona where the two teams scored a combined 16 goals in an overtime tie. In those eight goals scored by the Sun Devils, senior defenseman Brinson Pasichunk and forward Brett Gruber are the only remaining players from that game who tallied a point.
"The good news right now is that we control our own destiny," said head coach Greg Powers. "We have 14 games in front of us, and a majority of which if we play to our capacity and potential, we should win. That's just the blunt truth. We control our destiny, and if we don't take care of business starting Saturday at Brown, then we don't deserve to even talk about going to the tournament."
Sun Devil Rewind
In their first home series of the new decade, the Sun Devils fought to a split against Michigan Tech after winning the first game 4-3. They finished this last stretch of 10 games -- eight of which came against teams in the top-20 in the pairwise rankings -- with a 4-4-2 record.
The Sun Devils second line of PJ Marrocco, Filips Buncis and Austin Lemieux has been on fire as of late, recording 12 points in their first three games as a trio. Marrocco is on a three-game point streak, while recording four goals and three assists in his last five games.
Junior forward James Sanchez remains atop the Sun Devil scoring rankings, as he is tied for sixth in the country with 25 points while junior linemate Johnny Walker is tied for ninth with 24 points.
On the third line, junior forward Willie Knierim has a goal in his last three games, setting a new collegiate personal record with seven goals this season.
Brown Bears
Brown will be coming off their seventh-straight loss after a 3-2 overtime loss at Boston University Wednesday night. The Bears jumped out early to a 2-0 lead through the first 15 minutes before the Terriers scored three unanswered.
The power play went 1-for-4 in the game, and is 2-for-7 in the last two games. The Bears unit ranks 14th in the country with a 22.5% success rate.
Led by head coach Brendan Whittet, the Bears have won three games this season, all coming against conference opponents -- Yale, Colgate and St. Lawrence.
Sophomore forward Justin Jallen leads the squad with eight goals and senior defenseman Zach Giuttari has six assists for the Bears. Between the pipes, Gavin Nieto has played in 12 games with a .904 save percentage and 2.93 goals against average.
Puck drop Saturday night is 5:00 p.m. (MST) and Sunday afternoon is 2:00 p.m. (MST). Both games will be aired on ESPN+, while Sunday is also on NESN.