Skaters react to a face-off during ASU's game versus Niagara on Friday Sept. 19, 2014. (Photo by Fabian Ardaya)No. 1 ASU hockey's quest for a repeat got off to a resounding start on Friday night, as the Devils drove the pitchfork into the Niagara University Purple Eagles with an 8-3 win at Oceanside Ice Arena.
Sophomore forward Ryan Ostertag was the star of the night for the Sun Devils, tallying the hat trick and an assist for a total of four points.
“(Junior forward Chris) Blessing was the anchor of our line tonight, and he really helped me and (senior forward) Liam (Norris) tonight and everything seemed to be clicking,” Ostertag said. “We were cycling the puck quite well, and everything just worked out for us.”
The Sun Devils (1-0-0) got off to a sloppy start, as junior defenseman Brett Blomgren picked up a hooking penalty just seconds after the opening face-off. After getting back to full strength ASU responded quickly, as sophomore forward Ryan Ostertag found senior forward Liam Norris in the middle for the goal to put the Devils up 1-0 with 17:15 left in the first period.
Coach Greg Powers said that there were some jitters for the Sun Devils in their first game of the season, but that they eventually were handled.
“We haven’t played in six months,” he said. “(Niagara) were fortunate enough to have a game last weekend, so they had one under their belt. I think we’ll be a lot sharper and a lot crisper tomorrow (against Niagara).”
Niagara responded early in the second period, tying the game on a Charlie Chamberlain one-timer from freshman forward Dalton Bew with 17:14 remaining in the period. The Purple Eagles (0-1-0) dominated the possession of the puck, and regained the momentum.
It wouldn’t last long, as ASU came storming back with two goals in the span of just over a minute. Junior forward Chris Blessing knocked in a rebound from Ostertag to retake the lead with 14:55, and sophomore forward Trevor Cooney came right back with a goal of his own off the assist from sophomore forward Chris Burkemper to extend the lead to 3-1 with 13:44 left in the second period.
Before the period was over the Purple Eagles and Sun Devils exchanged goals yet again, with Bew knocking in the rebound from freshman forward Tyler Stockwell for Niagara. After falling down a man due to a tripping penalty, Ostertag intercepted a lazy pass along the blue line and took it all the way for the shorthanded goal and a 4-2 ASU lead.
The dam finally broke for Niagara in the opening minutes of the third period, as goals by sophomore forward Michael Cummings, freshman forward Connor Mailey, and Ostertag extended the lead to 7-2 by the 13:30 mark.
Video by Fabian Ardaya | Sports reporter Ostertag completed the hat trick with 41 seconds remaining on another shorthanded goal. Niagara got a garbage time goal of their own, with junior forward Patrick Gregory scoring in the final 12 seconds to make it 8-3.
Powers wasn’t surprised at the outburst, remarking that ASU has traditionally been a third period team.
“We finally wore (Niagara) down,” Powers said. “We’re going to get everybody’s best effort, and that was a good road game by Niagara. They capitalized on a few bounces that they got, they didn’t get too many chances but they capitalized on the ones that they got. The final 20 minutes, our depth just wore them out.”
Powers was impressed at the turnout at Oceanside Ice Arena, as fans nearly filled the arena for the season opener.
“(The crowd) was great,” he said. “We had a great crowd. We hope that we can continue to have crowds like that. I thought they were engaged, and any time you have a full building, you can’t complain.”
The Sun Devils cap off their weekend series against Niagara on Saturday, Sept. 20th at 7:30 p.m. at Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe.
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Reach the reporter at fardaya@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @fardaya15
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