TEMPE – Sun Devil Hockey dropped its home opener, 2-1, to Holy Cross in the first game of the weekend series Friday night at Mullett Arena.
ASU's lone goal came from sophomore forward Daniel Shlaine, who has scored in each of the Sun Devils' first three games to open the season.
The Sun Devils have yet to allow a power-play goal this season, going a perfect 13-for-13 on the penalty kill through three games.
Game two between the Sun Devils and Crusaders is set for 3 p.m. MST on Saturday. Fans can tune in to the action on FOX 10 and NCHC.tv, with the radio broadcast available on Fox Sports 910 AM.
The FOX 10 television broadcast will air on a two-hour tape delay, beginning at 5 p.m. MST.
Period-by-Period Breakdown
Period One
Neither team found the back of the net in the opening period despite Holy Cross earning two power-play opportunities. The Sun Devils successfully killed off both penalties, including a 5-on-3 advantage for the Crusaders.
Period Two
The second period remained scoreless as both teams continued to battle defensively. ASU maintained its perfect penalty kill, successfully killing off its lone penalty in the middle frame.
Period Three
Shlaine broke the scoreless tie exactly 15 minutes into the third period, giving the Sun Devils a 1-0 advantage. Senior forward and alternate captain Sean McGurn recorded the assist on Shlaine's third goal of the season.
Holy Cross responded with two goals just 11 seconds apart late in the final frame to take a 2-1 lead and secure the series-opening victory.
Quotes
Assistant Coach Mike Corbett
Opening Statement
"There's always challenges with the home opener, the excitement and just the emotions with that. We got a lot of new guys who don't know the fun of this building but I think they came out and played very well today. We had a tough 16 seconds and it's a 60 minute game but there are a lot of positives going into tomorrow."
Senior Forward Kyle Smolen
On the team's offensive opportunities
"Starting off with a new team there's going to be bumps in the road and you're struggling to score early on and you're not always going to be in a one score game. That game could have easily been 4-2. That game could have easily been 5-0. It's just a matter of figuring out what went wrong and bearing down in the scoring area."
Senior Forward Sean McGurn
On the team's offensive opportunities
"Yeah, we can score goals. We had 12 the first weekend. Tonight we just ran into a hot goalie and kudos to him, he played well."
Stay up to date with Sun Devil Hockey
Follow Sun Devil Hockey on sundevils.com, @sundevilhockey on Instagram, @SunDevilHockey on X and Sun Devil Hockey on Facebook all season long for coverage of the team.