Sophomore goalie Robert Levin and sophomore defenseman Troy Hoban defend ASU’s net, crushing Arizona 7-0 on Jan. 30, 2015, at Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe. (Kat Simonovic/ The State Press)No. 1 ASU (27-3-1) went into the game against No. 22 Arizona (11-18-0) with six key players traveling, giving different players an opportunity to shine, and that's exactly what they did.
ASU dominated Friday night, picking up a 7-0 win that was never close.
The excitement of the crowd was building even before puck drop when three former Sun Devils were inducted into the Hall of Fame. This inductees were players Pat Lind, Mark Schaker, Joe Schweiger, and general manager Ken Lind.
The first period was nearly a perfect period for the Sun Devils. Within the first four minutes, they were on the scoreboard first with a strong unassisted goal from freshman forward Mak Barden who knocked the puck off of UA goalie Austin Wilson's backside.
This goal was followed by a strong attempted goal from Arizona and ASU sophomore goalie Robert Levin's first of many saves of the night.
Shortly after, sophomore forward Patrick Yudez scored his first of the night off the assists from junior forwards Coda Engbar and Kory Chisholm, giving the Sun Devils the 2-0 lead within the first seven minutes.
Late in the opening period, The Sun Devils would go onto a 4-0 lead with two back-to-back shots. The first scored by Yudez followed by a goal from the Norris brothers only seconds later.
For the first time ever, sophomore forward David Norris and senior forward Liam Norris played in the same line and pushed ASU to a 4-0 lead with a goal from David off the assist from Liam.
"It's pretty special to play with him (Liam)," said David. "It's the first game we have played together, so we had to get the rust off and get together but it seemed like we were connecting there by the end."
ASU freshman forward Jared Morris goes for a goal, helping ASU defeat U of A. ASU won with in an impressive score of 7-0 on Jan. 30, 2015 at Ocean Side Arena in Tempe. (Kat Simonovic/ The State Press)The second period was not the Sun Devils best and the Wildcats were able to take some strong shots and really test ASU defense. Despite strong efforts, the middle period ended with ASU still leading 4-0.
"It was 20 minutes away from being a perfect hockey game, Coach Powers said. "We played exactly how we wanted to and executed our game plan in the first and third and in the second period I thought we were really bad. We got away from what was working."
UA's defenseman Tommy Bennett had some great shots on goal but ASU's sophomore goalie Robert Levin was not letting anything in the net.
With 4 minutes left in the second period, both teams received coincidental penalties. Arizona's forward Alex O'dea received two minutes for holding and ASU's freshman forward Connor Mailey two for hooking. There was an exciting almost two minutes of 4-on-4 hockey until L. Norris had an aggressive block and was sent to the box for slashing.
Arizona was unable to capitalize on the PP with L. Norris still in the box. They didn't get on the scoreboard even when playing 5-on-3 with ASU's sophomore forward Michael Cummings in the box as well for cross checking. This was a tough decision for Cummings because he did save a goal but left his team with only 3 guys for a brief period of time.
"When you are even, I don't mind that penalty trying to protect your goalie," Powers said. "It's kind of a double edge sword, you have to protect your goalie but not when you're down a man. Just tie them up."
The final period started off with four minute penalties called on both Arizona's defenseman Matt Nowicki for highsticking and roughing as well as L. Norris for roughing.
During another 4-on-4, ASU was able to score when Yudez scored his second of the night off the assist from freshman defenseman Gianni Mangone. The Norris brothers pushed the Sun Devils even farther ahead shortly after when David scored off the assists from Liam and sophomore defenseman Drew Newmeyer.
The Sun Devils were able to capitalize on a final power play after Arizona's defenseman Shane Gleason was sent to the box for tripping.
Mangone went right off the assists from Newmeyer and D. Norris for the final goal of the night pushing ASU ahead 7-0.
The Sun Devils ended up beating the Wildcats which makes them 5-0 this season. Tomorrow night the two teams will play again at Oceanside at 7:30 p.m. to finish off this weekend series.
Three Stars
Third Star: David Norris, ASU (two goals, one assist)
Second Star: Robert Levin, ASU (8th shutout, 14 saves)
First Star: Patrick Yudez, ASU (three goals, second hat-trick)
Additional Notes
- Brett Blomgren to return next week after dealing with a personal matter.
- Levin still top goalie in ACHA after his 8th shutout tonight.
- Yudez had his first hat-trick of the season tonight.
Reach the reporter at kewens@asu.edu or follow @katlynewens on Twitter.
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Correction: Because of a reporting error, an earlier version of this story said Patrick Yudez had two hat-tricks this season. It's been updated to reflect that he had one.
