It was a highly disappointing weekend for the ASU ice hockey team after dropping two games to intrastate rival UA on home ice.
"It was a disappointing weekend for us," ASU assistant coach Todd Bisson said. "We expected to come out victorious against UA. It was a learning experience for us."
UA got out to an early lead Thursday night and never looked back with a 3-1 victory. On Friday, a high scoring affair occurred between the two teams with the Icecats picking up the win after an 8-5 decision.
The Icecats got out to the early lead on Thursday in a penalty-filled affair when forward Keith Patterson got UA on the board late in the first period.
UA would get an important insurance goal in the second period when defenseman Evan Marro notched a shorthanded goal halfway through to give the Icecats a 2-0 lead. The Sun Devils would get a five-on-three power play late in the second period, but were unable to convert.
"Anytime you fail to capitalize on the power play is big," Bisson said. "We struggled with our special teams so far this season."
After not being able to score on the man advantage, the Icecats regained momentum and added to the lead.
Forward Robbie Nowinksi scored early in the third period to give UA a 3-0 lead. ASU responded a little more than a minute later when forward Chris Vassos cut into the Sun Devils' deficit at 3-1, but that's how it concluded.
"We need to play a full 60 minutes in order to win," Bisson said. "In this league, you need to play every minute of every shift or you won't win."
After a disappointing loss on Thursday night, the Sun Devils looked to capitalize early and often with a quick start.
Retribution and retaliation was on the mind of ASU, but it would accumulate penalties early and often once again. ASU notched the first goal of the night when Vassos scored halfway through a period that included 13 penalties. UA responded a little more than two minutes later when forward Matt Conover scored to knot the score at 1-1.
In the second period, ASU kicked off the scoring when forward Jeff Heimel tallied five minutes in. UA responded, but ASU would get two goals from forward Ryan Clark to give the Sun Devils a two-goal lead headed into the final period.
With 20 minutes remaining, ASU had thoughts of gaining a split of the series. Instead it became a period ASU would like to forget.
The Icecats scored four times in the first eight minutes of the third period including two goals by forward Craig Irwin. Forward Jordan Schupan completed the hat trick along with Irwin to give ASU an 8-5 loss and more hatred toward their rivals to the south.
"It is a strong rivalry considering how close the schools are," Bisson said. We didn't play well this weekend, but we play them more times this year."
Reach the reporter at: russell.brooks@asu.edu.