The No. 11 ASU club hockey team wrapped up its season on Sunday, losing in the quarterfinals of the ACHA Division I National Tournament after earning an upset victory in the first round.
On Saturday evening in Chicago, the Sun Devils (26-9-3) rallied from a late two-goal deficit to upset No. 6 Liberty University 7-4.
ASU entered the first intermission down 3-1 and the second intermission down 4-2, before the Sun Devils exploded for five goals in the third period, including two empty-net goals to douse the Flames (29-3-3).
After junior forward Paul Scola was the only Sun Devil able to find the back of the twine, scoring both of ASU’s early goals, the rest of the team began to contribute. Following freshman forward Tim Hurst’s score at the 13:45 mark, sophomore defenseman Robert Restermayer scored on the power play off a pass from junior forward Pat Lind to tie the game.
With less than two minutes to play in the game before overtime, Scola found the back of the net yet again to give ASU the lead and complete the hat trick.
Junior forward Mark Chadwick and sophomore forward Kris Myshak tacked on empty-net goals to send ASU to the quarterfinals.
The Sun Devils were met in the quarterfinals by No. 3 Ohio (34-9-3), and this time it was ASU who saw a two-goal lead evaporate. Junior forward Joe Schweiger and freshman forward Patrick Rogan each scored in the first period to give ASU a two-goal lead and the early momentum. But just as ASU exploded for five goals in a period the night before, Ohio suddenly found its offense and peppered ASU sophomore goalie Mark Shacker. The Bobcats scored five goals in a span of 6:35 in the second to pull away. Schweiger scored in near the end of the second period to close the gap to 5-3, but ASU would get no closer as Ohio goaltender Paul Marshall shut the door to end ASU’s season.
Schweiger finished the weekend with two goals and an assist, while Scola’s hat trick would be his only points of the weekend.
Reach the reporter at kaglaser@asu.edu
