No. 13 ASU hockey looked to continue momentum from its sweep against Boston College last weekend as it traveled to New York to play against No. 17 Cornell, but the Sun Devils lost 6-1 on Friday and lost 3-2 on Saturday.
Friday
On Friday, ASU (16-9-1) went down late in the first period as Cornell scored a pair of goals to go up 2-0. Then, after a scoreless second period, Cornell took a 3-0 advantage early in the third period.
ASU answered that score quickly as sophomore forward Johnny Walker scored his NCAA-leading 19th goal this season. The Sun Devils continued to have no answer for Cornell as it scored three more times, one being an unassisted goal from senior forward Mitch Vanderlaan with 21 seconds left for the final goal.
Saturday
Cornell (9-5-1) started the Saturday matchup where it left off on Friday, scoring its first goal just a minute after the puck dropped and also led 2-0 going into the first intermission. Similar to Friday, the second period went scoreless, but Cornell scored first in the third period.
With 5:37 left, freshman defenseman Jarrod Gourley started a comeback attempt for ASU as he put in a goal assisted by redshirt freshman forward Austin Lemieux to cut the deficit to 3-1.
However, it was too little too late.
ASU made things interesting as the seconds ticked away, though, as junior defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk scored a goal that ringed off the post. Then, following a flurry in front of the net, he almost tied the game, but Cornell stopped the opportunity and sealed the series sweep, outscoring the Sun Devils 9-3.
Next week, the Sun Devils are headed to Massachusetts to take on Boston University.
Reach the reporter at nahiatt@asu.edu or follow @NATE_HIATT on Twitter.
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