The ASU club hockey team kicked off the 2010-11 season with an inconsistent but successful weekend.
The No. 9 Sun Devils (2-0) defeated UA twice, and the pair of victories extended their winning streak against their archrivals to 10 games after a successful 8-0 season sweep last year.
ASU was heavily favored coming into the series, but the Ice Cats (0-2) came to Tempe looking to prove themselves. It took 58 minutes and 30 seconds before the Sun Devils came up with the game winner on Thursday night.
ASU came out flat and was forced to overcome an early two-goal deficit to earn the win.
Just like last year, it was senior forward Joe Schweiger who put the Sun Devil offense on his back and led the team to the victory. Schweiger tied the game at two and scored the game-winner late in the third period before adding an empty-net goal to complete the hat trick and cement the Sun Devils 5-3 victory.
The reigning All-American and American College Hockey Association (ACHA) Division I all-star was the team’s leading point scorer last year, and after a busy offseason, it doesn’t appear that he has skipped a beat.
Schweiger was the catalyst in Friday’s victory as well, as the lumbering forward tied the score at three about midway through the third period.
Knowing he has only one more chance at a National Championship this year, Schweiger worked hard in the off-season.
“I hit the gym five days a week and conditioned pretty hard,” Schwieger said.
It was his goal that set off a barrage as the Sun Devils blitzed the Ice Cat defense and scored three goals in under three minutes.
Junior defenseman Jason Maltese, an Oakland University transfer, netted the game-winner in Friday’s contest. The goal came just minutes after both Schweiger and freshman Troy Scott scored, and the goal gave the Sun Devils a 5-3 lead.
ASU’s three-goal eruption triggered a physical outburst that the team had been missing all weekend. With the Sun Devils up two and the clock winding down, a few fights broke out, which led to ASU losing sophomore forwards Zach Greenwald and David Jantzie for the remainder of the game and the first game of this weekend’s set with Iowa State.
The ensuing UA power play allowed the Ice Cats to get within a goal of the Sun Devils, but ASU held on for the 5-4 victory.
Things didn’t get any prettier as time expired, and players and coaches alike got into shouting matches both before and after the post-game handshakes. The stage was certainly set for December, when the Sun Devils travel to Tucson.
No. 2 Iowa State (3-3) will be the first major test of the season for the Sun Devils. The Cyclones went all the way to National Championship game last season, and although they are off to a sluggish start, they are expected to compete for the title again.
While ASU coach Greg Powers is confident in his team’s ability, he knows that a display like last weekend’s won’t provide the results that ASU is looking for.
“The goal is to sweep this weekend,” Powers said. “We expect to win every game we play. We have a lot of work to do this week and a lot of things to fix to be able to sweep Iowa State, but we have the character in our room to put that work in.”
The talent on this Sun Devils squad was visible this past weekend, but the team appeared off by just a beat. Powers has a week to push the right buttons and get the team rolling.
The test starts at 7:30 p.m. Friday as the Sun Devils face their first ranked opponent of the new season.
Reach the reporter at nlicalzi@asu.edu