TEMPE – Sun Devil Hockey dropped its first game against St. Cloud State on Friday night as a late start to the goal-scoring and two empty net goals from the Huskies (13-15, 6-12 NCHC) led to a 4-1 final score.
Noah Powell scored the lone goal for ASU (13-14-1, 6-9-1 NCHC); he was assisted by Sam Alfano and Logan Morrell. With Friday night’s assist, Alfano is now on a six-game point streak, which ties Josh Doan for the second-longest point streak by an ASU freshman.
The Maroon and Gold are back in action Saturday night at Mullett Arena for the series finale against the Huskies. Puck drop is slated for 5 p.m. MST and can be found on NCHC.tv. Tyler Paley and Alex Coil will be on the radio at Fox Sports 910AM.
Period-by-period breakdown
First period
- Each team had a power play opportunity in the first 20 minutes, but was unable to break the scoreless draw. St. Cloud State managed to narrowly outshoot ASU, 10-8.
Second period
- Despite the Sun Devils being on the power play early, the Huskies scored a shorthanded goal to take a 1-0 lead.
- ASU tied the game at one with less than three minutes in the period when Noah Powell drove to the net and scored. The game remained tied heading into the second intermission.
Third period
- St. Cloud State took a 2-1 lead with 6:41 remaining in regulation.
- The Huskies avoided a late-game push from the Sun Devils and scored an empty net goal with 1:36 remaining in regulation. They extended their lead to 3-1.
- A second empty net goal from St. Cloud sealed the final score at 4-1.
Game notables
- Freshman forward Sam Alfano extended his point streak to six games, tying Josh Doan for the second-longest point streak by an ASU freshman. In the six-game span, Alfano has three goals and five assists for eight points.
- Sophomore forward Noah Powell scored his first goal since Jan. 10 against Miami, notching his fifth goal of the season.
- Freshman goaltender Samuel Urban notched his ninth game in which he recorded at least 30 saves while also registering a .938 save percentage.
- Sophomore forward Logan Morrell won 84.2 percent of his faceoffs, going 16-of-19 on the dot for a season-best win percentage this season.
Quotes from Sun Devil Hockey
Arizona State Head Coach Greg Powers on the forecheck tonight
“The check was good. We created a lot of chances off of it tonight. We just didn’t finish. Their goalie was really good. We felt like after two periods, we could have been up a few. I really liked our second period. St. Cloud’s goaltender was just really good. We didn’t finish. (Sam Alfano) Alfie had a great A off the forecheck, where he created a turnover on there in the third to take the lead, which we didn’t capitalize on. It was a winnable game.”
On what has been working for Sam Alfano
“He’s just working. He’s going to be so good. He’s really been the silver lining through the back half. We knew how good he was and what Sammy (Sam Alfano) had done. I told him this today; he’s really developed a B-game. He doesn't have to score to be effective because he’s big and he’s got a good stick. He works, and he plays 200 feet, and now he’s really layered on some confidence to that B game, and he’s starting to score. He’s going to be a monster for us for a long time.”
On how the younger guys have responded to playing with injuries
“I think really good. Especially up front and even some of the young guys in the back tonight. I thought Lincoln Kuehne played a really good game. He pushed the pace, he used his feet and he defended well. Richard Baran played hard on the back. The young guys, I thought, did what they had to do tonight. There was one unfortunate shift in the third where the same guy turned it over twice, but the young guys are developing incredibly well.”
Sophomore Forward Logan Morrell on the bright spots despite the loss
“I thought we had some really good spots where we played really well. We were driving the offense, making plays, humming them (St. Cloud) in the zone, and then we'd make one bad play and we just have to be able to rebound off something like that.”
On the Sun Devils' strong forecheck
“It was huge, especially for my line. We're all big guys. That's how we're gonna play at the next level, and that's how we're gonna play a lot here. So we need to continuously do that every night.”
On his success at the faceoff dot
“I take a lot of pride in faceoffs. It's something that's really helped me get to this level. Little things like that add up.”
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