ASU hockey was swept in perhaps its toughest test to date, a weekend series at No. 6 Nebraska Omaha, which went to its first Frozen Four in school history last season and lost to eventual national champion Providence.
On Saturday night, ASU (5-12-0) was right in the mix, losing just 3-1. And in a season in which the team has struggled on its power plays—a focus head coach Greg Powers has tried to nail since the beginning—ASU got a taste of an efficient, potent attack.
Surprisingly enough, ASU came into the series converting on a higher rate of power plays (22.4 percent) than Nebraska Omaha (16.7 percent).
Nebraska Omaha's (14-3-1) three goals all came off power plays. Meanwhile, ASU freshman Jordan Masters scored his sixth goal of the year and Drew Newmeyer was credited with an assist, giving the junior his first-career point.
Freshman Ryland Pashovitz had another strong performance, tallying 41 saves in the contest.
However, also worth note is that the Sun Devils were solid in the second period, taking 11 shots and not allowing a Nebraska Omaha shot for the first eight minutes.
In an interview with thesundevils.com, Powers said the glaring positive of the contest was that his team outscored the Mavericks during 5-on-5 play.
While ASU hung in strong on Saturday, the Sun Devils could not step up to the same level on Sunday, dropping that one 6-0.
The game started close and Nebraska Omaha was only up 1-0 after a goal late in the first period, but the floodgates opened in the last two periods.
Before Sunday's loss, Masters had been riding an impressive 11-game point streak, including a line of 6-9-15—he had a score in every game since Oct. 17.
The loss was the third time ASU has been shut out this season and the fifth time it has allowed five or more goals in a game. The Mavericks came into the series ranked 12th in the nation in scoring, and tallied nine more goals in the two games.
Also, Nebraska Omaha has still lost just once since Halloween after starting the season on a six-game winning streak, then dropping two in a row.
Throughout the season, Powers has remained positive after losses against top teams, noting that they will provide his young team with the necessary experience to compete even more and build the fresh program from the ground in the future.
In addition to this weekend's series, ASU also lost to now-No. 3 Quinnipiac 5-0 in its fourth game of the year.
The two losses were ASU's final games of 2015, but the Sun Devils will break in a new year with an equally tough matchup at No. 5 St. Cloud State, followed by a home game against Connecticut. After that tilt, the Sun Devils will play in the Desert Hockey Classic at Gila River Arena against Yale and Connecticut or Michigan Tech.
Reach the reporter at Justin.Toscano@asu.edu or follow @justintoscano3 on Twitter
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