ASU hockey: Sun Devils squander lead against Colorado College

TEMPE, Ariz. — Up 4-1 with just under 14 minutes of play remaining, ASU hockey looked like it would be cruising to victory against Colorado College. After dominating Friday night’s game, the Sun Devils could sense a series sweep.

However, across the next eight minutes, that lead would evaporate, with the Tigers roaring back with four unanswered goals en route to a 5-4 comeback victory. With the loss, ASU falls from first to third in the NCHC, with wins from Western Michigan and Omaha on Saturday night allowing both teams to pass the Sun Devils in the standings.

Arizona State hockey blows third-period lead

ASU head coach Greg Powers said that he liked his team’s performance to start, but saw plenty of room for improvement, especially from what he saw in periods two and three.

“The first 10 minutes of the game, we were awesome,” Powers said. “It looked like we were going to run away with it, but we couldn’t get it done.”

In those first 10 minutes, the Sun Devils controlled the tempo of the game, in large part due to a Ryan Kirwan power-play goal just over four minutes into the game. While the rest of the period would remain scoreless, ASU wasted no time in the second, with Kirwan scoring again to double the lead and bump his season total up to 16 goals scored.

In that second period, Colorado College would have plenty of opportunities, especially on the power play. But despite four penalties, the Tigers would go scoreless on their power play opportunities.

“It’s just elementary stuff that you can’t do if you’re going to get sweeps in this league,” Powers said, regarding the penalties given up by ASU. “They catch up to you, and gave them all of the momentum.”

Third-period meltdown

In the third period, the Tigers used this momentum and did not wait around to start the scoring, getting an initial goal from Noah Laba just 19 seconds after the initial puck drop. Across the next six minutes, ASU would respond, this time with Charlie Shcoen getting a pair of goals for himself, and improving the Sun Devils’ lead to 4-1.

Friday night, the Devils won by that same scoreline, but on Saturday, the Tigers did not give up as easily. Laba would grab his second goal on the night, and minutes later, forward Chase McLane brought Colorado College back to within one goal.

Just past the halfway point in the period, the Tigers kept up their offensive-zone pressure, tying the game on a Max Burkholder long-range snipe. Just tying the game was not enough though, as with under six minutes to go in the game, Drew Montgomery scored on a one-timer, officially completing the Colorado College comeback, and capping off the 5-4 win.

Coming up next for the Sun Devils, the team travels to Oxford to take on Miami of Ohio in a two-game series to end January. 

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