No. 14 Arizona State hockey swept by No. 5 Penn State in another third period collapse to wrap up the season opening series

TEMPE, Ariz. – No. 14 Arizona State hockey came into Saturday night’s action against No.5 Penn State looking to avoid dropping the first two games of the season at home in front of a roaring Mullett Arena crowd.

However, the Nittany Lions spoiled what looked to be an impressive performance by the Maroon and Gold by completing another third period comeback, scoring four unanswered goals to take the game, 4-2.

“5-on-5, I thought we were a better team tonight and we were,” ASU coach Greg Powers said. “That’s what put us up two. I thought we managed that part of the game incredibly well.”

Both teams flashed their physicality to start the game with there being little room to move the puck. 

Penn State’s sophomore goaltender Kevin Reidler made 11 stops in the first period with the biggest one being on a breakaway to deny ASU’s freshman forward Sam Alfano from point blank range to keep the game scoreless.

ASU scores first

ASU’s captain, senior forward Bennett Schimek, got the Sun Devils on the board just over two minutes into the second frame to put ASU in front 1-0. 

The Sun Devils continued to explode in the second period notching their second goal of the game at the 5:41 mark off the stick of senior forward Cruz Lucius giving ASU a 2-0 lead.

ASU’s third period collapse

ASU found itself in the same position as Friday night holding a tight lead heading into the third period.

“I thought the first two periods we played really well,” Schimek said. “We were getting into the dirty areas, getting into traffic, and the third period we just fell hard. I think it’s just a mental thing, going into the third guys know that it’s going to be harder now.”

Penn State’s penalty kill came up clutch five minutes into the third period with a shorthanded goal courtesy of sophomore forward Nic Chin-DeGraves to cut ASU’s lead in half, 2-1.

Three short minutes later the Nittany Lions tied the game 2-2 with a goal from sophomore forward JJ Wiebusch.

With three and a half minutes left, the game looked like it was heading to overtime when ASU’s junior defenseman Anthony Dowd took a costly minor penalty for elbowing, giving Penn State the man advantage. 

“Then one of our oldest, our oldest D (defenseman), who’s a captain, takes a stupid penalty with under three minutes,” Powers said.

Penn State capitalizes

The Nittany Lions wasted no time capitalizing and it was none other than freshman forward Gavin McKenna who scored his first collegiate goal blasting a one-timer past ASU senior goalie Connor Hasley off of a beautiful cross seam feed from junior defenseman Mac Gadowsky to put Penn State in front, 3-2, with 1:53 remaining. 

Penn State’s junior forward Dane Dowiak added the finishing touch with an empty goal to seal the deal for the Nittany Lions, who scored four unanswered goals in the third period to win the game, 4-2, sweeping the Sun Devils on the road to open up the season. 

ASU had their chances throughout the night to put the game away but, ultimately, the achilles heel for the Sun Devils was the inability to score on the power play. ASU went 0-6 and allowing a shorthanded goal.

“The silver lining is that’s as good of a team as you’re going to see all year,” Powers said. “On paper, they’re arguably the most talented team in the country.”

The Sun Devils will look to bounce back next weekend, hosting the Ice Breaker Tournament at Mullett Arena with participating teams including Notre Dame, No. 13 Quinnipiac and Alaska.

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