Playing a Division II team, ASU hockey took care of business on the ice this weekend,outscoring San Diego State 23-2 in the two-game set, as well as outshooting the Aztecs by a whopping 125-35 margin.
Coach Greg Powers said he was pleased with how the team played, particularly the freshmen, and that he has some tough to decisions to make on who plays and who doesn’t.
“I think we proved how deep we are,” Powers said. “There were some guys who didn’t get in (Friday) that came out (Saturday) and performed, and that was good to see. Makes my job difficult, and that’s what it’s all about.”
Over the weekend, 24 different Sun Devils recorded at least a point, and senior forward Brian McGinty had a team-high six, including two goals and four assists.
Powers said he was impressed by what McGinty has done both on and off the ice.
“Both nights he played hard, goes hard every shift, he’s really flying this year (and his) attitude is great,” Powers said. “He’s got a good presence and aura about him in the room and on the bench, and I think he’s really enforcing his role as a leader on this team.”
Not to be overlooked is freshman forward Zach Holstrom. After scoring four goals on Friday night, he added an assist in the second period on Saturday. Holstrom leads all rookies in points and is second only to McGinty for the team lead.
Between the pipes, senior goaltender Joe D’Elia played the entire first game, allowing one goal and making 17 saves. Saturday night was split between freshmen Robert Levin and Lucas Felbel. Levin recorded six saves and allowed a goal in the first half before being spelled by Felbel, who shut out the Aztecs with 10 saves the rest of the way.
Powers said the change was just to get Felbel in and that it didn’t have to do with Levin’s performance. He also said that he would have left Levin in if he hadn’t allowed a goal to try to get him the shutout.
Saturday night saw a rest for a good number of ASU starters. Five front-line forwards did not play, including seniors Colin Hekle, Danny McAuliffe and Kale Dolinski, as well as juniors Faiz Khan and Liam Norris. Sophomore defenseman Jordan Young also sat out Saturday night.
Powers said this was because he wanted to get his other players a chance to play, not because of injuries.
Two highly touted freshman did not play this weekend: forward Eric Rivard and defenseman Alex Temby. Powers said Temby will return next week and did not give an update on Rivard.
Reach the reporter at justin.emerson@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @J15Emerson
