Love Sun Devil hockey? Check out more ASU Club Hockey photos in this slideshow.
After being upset on Friday, the No. 4 ASU Club Hockey team overcame numerous setbacks to deny the sweep from ambitious No. 19 Central Oklahoma.The difference in talent meant little in the first game as Central Oklahoma willed itself to win and took advantage of a mistake-prone Sun Devil team.
Six penalties halted any momentum ASU had from an early 2-0 lead, and the iniability to exit the zone ultimately nagged the team until the score was tied 3-3 heading into a shootout.
Despite a tremendous goal from sophomore captain Colin Hekle, ASU only scored three times. Freshman goalie Corey Frank, who had only played in two games thus far this season, let in four.
“We were just trying to get Corey a game,” coach Greg Powers said. “That’s a team we should be able to beat with any one of our three goalies and it’s the beauty of hindsight. I wish I could take it back but I can’t.
“He played OK. I don’t think it was his fault that we lost, but at the end of the day we didn’t put the puck in the net and that’s why we lost.”
Still, in what could have been a disastrous weekend, the Sun Devils were able to escape Oceanside Arena in Tempe with three out of four points winning the second game 7-3.
Again the team racked up the penalty minutes, as Hekle was ejected for spearing halfway through the first period and junior assistant captain Dan Anderson received 10 minutes of penalty time for talking back to the refs.
“It’s bittersweet for me this win, because it’s good bouncing back after a tough loss,” Powers said. “But we are playing undisciplined hockey and it is guys that can’t play that way, guys that are wearing letters. It happened both nights and it has to stop.”
With Hekle out of the game and star forward Ben Findlay hurt, junior forward Patrick Rogan shone in the spotlight, scoring a hat trick and terrorizing the Central Oklahoma defense all night.
“It was the first (hat trick) in my career so it felt really good, and most importantly we got the win,” Rogan said. “It shows how deep our team is that everybody can contribute.”
Two other players who stepped it up after Hekle went out were sophomore forward David Jantzie and defenseman Ryan Clark.
Jantzie was robbed of his own hat trick right before the end of the game as the Central Oklahoma net was dislodged, a recurring theme as the teams played hard all night.
Clark not only helped his team offensively, recording an assist on the third ASU goal, but also was a menace for the Central Oklahoma forwards by making plenty of big hits.
He also played a big role in getting the puck out of the defensive zone, which was a problem for the team in both games.
“They took a win away from us Friday and we took that a little personal,” Clark said. “What we saw was that we needed to take our time, look for the open pass, and just calm down instead of forcing it and trying to make plays that aren’t open.”
Lost in the high goal tally was senior goaltender Mark Schacker’s performance in the second game, especially when it was tied three to three.
“He played outstanding,” Powers said. “He made some really big saves at timely parts in the game.”
Schacker wasn’t the only goalie that helped bring the victory home in the second game though.
“I’ll tell you the reason for my hat trick,” Rogan said. “Corey Frank, our backup goalie — he taped my stick before the game and he kissed it.”
Reach the reporter at jjmckelv@asu.edu Click here to subscribe to the daily State Press newsletter.
