Thursday night, ASU coach Greg Powers lauded his power play unit, even though it came up empty on three attempts.
Friday night ASU’s first two goals were scored with the man advantage, and they were enough to keep the undefeated start alive and beat Williston State 4-0.
“The goal is to stay disciplined and make teams pay when they get stupid by putting us on the power play, and tonight we did that,” Powers said.
For the 13th time in 13 home games, ASU (18-0-0) scored first. Freshman forward Ryan Ostertag collected a pass from senior forward Kale Dolinski, and Ostertag did not miss, blasting a one-timer into the half of the net that Williston State (3-3-0) goalie sophomore Tyler Ampe couldn’t cover. ASU freshman forward Sean Murphy was also credited with an assist.
That was it for scoring in the first period. Williston State’s strength is its defenseman, led by sophomore Nick Zern. And even if the defensemen fail, the Tetons’ backup plan isn’t too shabby: Ampe led the team to a NJCAA national title last year between the pipes.
Both the defensemen and Ampe played well, but in the end, ASU, especially on home ice where it has yet to trail this season, was just too much.
ASU’s second goal was the first in the career of freshman defenseman Drew Newmeyer. Like the first goal, an ASU attacker had a half-empty net to shoot to, this time because of a rebound.
Murphy had an assist, and thought he’d add a goal. Stationed to Ampe’s right just out of the crease, he took a pass from freshman forward Chris Burkemper and went top shelf to extend the ASU lead to 3-0.
ASU added another goal in the third period, credited to junior forward Liam Norris and assisted by Dolinski.
The 8:23 mark in the third period saw a huge scrum behind the Williston State net that put five men in the penalty box on the same play.
For ASU, Murphy got two minutes for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct, while Burkemper got a double-minor roughing and Norris served a minor. For Williston State, sophomore forward Henry Gutierrez got two for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct and sophomore defenseman Parker Tomcyzyk got two for roughing.
In all, there were 32 PIMs handed out on the one one play, and that wasn’t even the biggest penalty occurrence of the night. With 5:29 left in the game, the glove dropped and out broke an old-fashioned hockey fight.
ASU senior forward Brian McGinty locked up with Williston State freshman defenseman Karson Kuntz. McGinty ended up on top, and both were ejected and given game misconducts.
The scrum also included two double-minors and two 10-minute misconducts. After the dust had settled, 95 PIMs were issued in the third period alone.
Meanwhile, ASU senior goaltender Joe D'Elia stopped all 30 shots that came his way for his second shutout in as many starts.
“Both goalies are going (well),” Powers said, including freshman Robert Levin. “We keep going back and forth, (and) they’re performing at a high level.”
Same teams, same time, same place Saturday night: ASU vs. Williston State at 7:30 p.m. at Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe.
Reach the reporter at justin.emerson@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @J15Emerson
