ASU forward Michael Cummings battles for the puck with Stony Brook's Joseph Bochichio behind the net on Jan. 22, 2015, at Oceanside Arena in Tempe. (J. Bauer-Leffler/The State Press)No. 1 ASU (26-3-1) will host No. 21 Arizona (11-13-3) at Oceanside Arena for a two-game series this weekend in the latest edition of the Cactus Cup, playing with a few unseen faces.
The Sun Devils will be without six of their crucial players as they are representing the U.S. in the World University Games in Spain. Traveling players include forwards Chris Burkemper, Ryan Belonger and Sean Murphy as well as defensemen Connor Schmidt, Ed McGovern and Jordan Young.
ASU will also be without sophomore forward Tommy Cooney for at least two weeks after he suffered a lower back injury during the shutout against Lindenwood a couple weeks ago.
Coach Greg Powers is ready to take on the challenge presented this weekend.
"We are going to have a different look," Powers said. "It'll be fun. It's adversity that we are going to look forward to swallowing and facing."
The last time these two Arizona teams took the ice together was back on Dec. 5 and 6 in Tucson. The Sun Devils swept the Wildcats during that two-game series, winning 6-0 on Saturday and 3-1 on Friday.
Since that weekend, both teams have played three mutual teams and had very different results.
The Sun Devils went on to play Oklahoma, Central Oklahoma, Lindenwood and Stony Brook, going 4-1-1 falling to Oklahoma 5-3 and Lindenwood 3-2 in a shootout. Over this past month, ASU lost only two games and held onto their No. 1 spot in the ACHA rankings.
The Wildcats did not have as much success over similar teams. The team has also played Oklahoma, Central Oklahoma and Stony Brook as well as Utah since last meeting ASU. The Wildcats went 2-5 after beating Utah 2-0 and 6-1 during a home weekend series. Arizona has been bouncing around the No. 20 and 21 spots and bumped down two spots to No. 21 this week.
This is not the last time these two teams will meet. They have played 4 games this season (Oct. 10 and 11, Dec. 5 and 6) and will play four more including this weekend. After this coming series, they will meet again in Tucson on Feb. 21 and 22 for the final games of the regular season. ASU is 4-0 in the season series this season and Powers is 43-1 against Arizona as coach at ASU.
This weekend is packed with extra excitement as ASU will be celebrating their seniors and will induct three former Sun Devils into the hall of fame.
The Wildcats and Sun Devils will play at Oceanside Arena Friday, Jan. 30, and Saturday, Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m.
Reach the reporter at kewens@asu.edu or follow @katlynewens on Twitter.
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