The Sun Devils will play at Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe this Saturday night against their familiar ACHA opponent Liberty Flames.
Sun Devil hockey hasn't played the Flames since October 2014, before ASU made the jump to Division I. ASU defeated the Liberty Flames, from Lynchburg, Virginia, in that game, 6-4.
Head coach Greg Powers said he respects this Liberty program.
“They always play hard, they are a proud program, and they have really successful tradition there,” he said.
The Sun Devils currently have 5-22-2 NCAA record, coming off a two-game weekend series against Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Both games ended in a tie, and each team won one of the two exhibition shootouts.
Coach Powers said he didn’t think last week was necessarily a failure.
“No I wouldn’t call it a success, I wouldn’t call it a failure," he said. "We knew they would be tough games. They were a good team and, like I said, established, but we expected to win. We didn’t win but we didn’t lose, so that’s why it’s just kind of in between.”
Scoring three goals in each game last week, the Sun Devils had a decent outing. They look to carry some of that momentum into this week.
The Sun Devils have struggled putting the puck in the net against NCAA opponents, but that has not been the case against ACHA teams. The Sun Devils have dominated their three previous ACHA opponents in the scoring column, 22-4.
“Against the ACHA teams, we have been able to put the puck in the net, and we plan on keeping that trend up this weekend,” Powers said.
While the offense has been clicking, junior defenseman Drew Newmeyer said the team is working on its defensive efforts.
“We have been working on a lot of shooting and getting good shots from the blue line — something you can never be too good at,” he said.
Powers said he thinks the defense needs some adjustments.
“Our defense struggled offensively, controlling position in the o-zone, getting shots through, making plays on the offensive blue line … if we can shore that up, we feel good about some of the stuff we’ve done defensively.”
Sun Devil hockey has their work cut out for them in preparation for their game against Liberty.
Last weekend, Liberty won by sweeping Oakland University. Senior forward Kyle Garcia led the charge with four goals and Grant Garvin contributed to the 8-4 win with three goals. The Flames walked away with a 5-4 overtime win on the second day of their weekend series. Prior to their success last week, the team was on a 1-7 drought dating back to Dec. 12, 2015.
The teams will face off this Saturday at Oceanside Ice Arena at 7:30 p.m.
Reach the reporter at chaz.frazier@asu.edu or follow @chaz_frazier on Twitter.
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