The ASU club hockey team rebounded over the weekend with a pair of victories over Central Oklahoma. The Sun Devils won 1-0 on Friday and took a 3-1 decision on Saturday.
It was sophomore forward Patrick Rogan and senior goaltender Mark Schacker who led the No. 3 Sun Devils (11-3-2) past the Broncos. Schacker, who struggled mightily the week before against top-ranked Lindenwood, gave up just one goal all weekend.
The No. 21 Broncos (6-11-2) were just not up to the task of taking down the Sun Devils. The hard-working, grind it out team was in both games and got nearly perfect goaltending all weekend long.
UCO Freshman goaltender Nick Holmes put on a clinic in Tempe, stopping 39 of 40 shots on Friday and 43 of 46 on Saturday. The ASU offense was turned aside time and time again, but eventually proved too much for Holmes and Central Oklahoma’s defense to handle.
“He was probably the best goalie we’ve seen so far this year,” ASU coach Greg Powers said.
On Friday, the Sun Devils weren’t able to find the back of the net until the final five minutes. An unexpected hero emerged as senior forwards Pat Lind and Paul Scola outworked the Broncos along the boards and fed a bouncing puck to junior forward Kris Myshak who converted the feed.
Saturday was a different story right off of the bat, as less than 30 seconds into the game, junior forward Marcus Wilhite beat a defender and found Rogan for a tap in.
The Sun Devils were without their number one center in freshman Colin Hekle on Saturday due to a minor knee injury, but another freshman, David Jantzie filled his shoes admirably.
Jantzie and fellow freshman Danny McAuliffe were able to beat the Broncos defense for the Sun Devils’ first two-goal lead of the series.
The Broncos responded quickly and cut the lead in half, making for some nervous moments on the ASU bench, but Rogan was able to convert on a breakaway after a relentless Sun Devil forecheck freed up the puck late in the second.
Rogan, whom Powers called the team’s best player going all the way back to last season, is finally healthy and living up to the hype.
“It was a big bounce-back weekend for us,” Rogan said. “Being able to sweep a team that made the [ACHA] final four last year is a big confidence booster and we should be able to carry that momentum over to this weekend’s series and then again against U of A.”
The always-humble Rogan gave all the credit to his linemates on both of his goals as sophomore defenseman Brett Prechel sprung him on the breakaway to match the moves of Wilhite on his set-up.
Prechel who was quiet to start the year is starting to pick up his offensive game to the level where he expects it to be.
Though he was happy with the sweep, Prechel still knows that the team is far from done.
“You play to win the game, so I expect nothing less than two more sweeps going forward, especially against U of A,” Prechel said.
The Sun Devils did a lot of things right this weekend, but weren’t perfect, Powers said.
“I was pretty disappointed with some of the penalties we took in the third period,” Powers said. “We let them hang around and we almost paid for it.”
The Sun Devils return to the ice this weekend in Tempe, on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 6:15 p.m, as they play host to Indiana University.
Nick Licalzi is a freelance reporter contributing to The State Press. Reach the reporter at nlicalzi@asu.edu
