Sophomore goalie Robert Levin and defense men Drew Newmeyer and Gianni Mangone defend ASU’s net, crushing U of A 7-0 on Jan. 30, 2015 at Ocean Side Arena in Tempe. (Kat Simonovic/ The State Press)Six hockey players not only had the opportunity to represent ASU this season but they also represented the U.S. at the World University games in Granda, Spain.
The players that traveled to Spain included defensemen Connor Schmidt, Ed McGovern, and Jordan Young as well as forwards Sean Murphy, Chris Burkemper, and Ryan Belonger. Young was named captain of Team USA.
Murphy and Young were returning players and were part of the 2014 roster. For the majority however, this was their first time representing Team USA.
“It was an honor to represent Team USA,” McGovern said. “It’s an honor to throw that jersey on.”
Team USA ended up seventh overall after going 3-2-1 over the span of the tournament. Schmidt walked away with the most points of the ASU players and tied for the team high score with 11 points from his two goals and nine assists. The other players had strong performances as well and ASU was the most represented on Team USA.
All teams hope to medal but the team gave it their all.
“I mean I wish we could have gotten a medal, but we played our hearts out,” McGovern said. “Gave it 110 percent, and it was a great experience.”
The six players return home just in time for their last away series of the semester down in Tucson. They will not all be on the ice though.
It was inevitable that someone would come home a little banged up. Belonger broke his knuckle after a puck hit it during the very first game of the tournament. He was out the rest of the time and will not be playing against Arizona this weekend.
The players had strong performances during every game and ASU was well represented on Team USA. Now, their main focus is defending their ACHA national championship title in early March.
ASU hockey players given WCHL awards
As the season comes to an end, the WCHL announced their end of the league awards and ASU walked away with a lot of them.
First off, of the six men chosen for the all-league first team, five of them are ASU hockey players. These players included sophomore goalie Robert Levin, Schmidt and Drew Newmeyer as well as forwards Murphy and Liam Norris.
All of these players are sophomores except Norris and have contributed greatly to the Sun Devil team this season. Levin ended the regular season sixth-best goalie in the ACHA with eight shutouts and a 1.80 GAA, saving 93 percent of shots.
Norris ended his final regular season with 13 goals and 35 assists, giving him 48 points, the most on the team. He also ended in the top 20 scoring leaders in the league at No. 18. Murphy tied with sophomore left wing Eric Rivard, for the most goals this season with 21, including his two with Team USA. He also had 21 assists.
The defensemen had an impressive season as well. Schmidt finished with the nine goals and 22 assists, the most on the team. Newmeyer ended up with 23 points with his three goals and 20 assists this season.
Norris was also named WCHL Most Valuable Player of the season.
A Sun Devil was also named to the All-league second team and that was junior forward Ryan Belonger. He finished this season with 33 points from his 16 goals and 17 assists. Belonger was the only player from ASU named to the second team.
Lastly, two of ASU’s rookies made the All-Rookie team. Those players were McGovern and freshman defenseman Gianni Mangone. With his two goals on Team USA, McGovern ended the season with the most goals from any other defenseman on the team. He scored 11 goals with six assists. Mangone had almost as many goals with seven and 9 assists.
Overall, ASU took home many of the WCHL awards and also ended the season at the top of the ACHA rankings.
Reach the reporter at kewens@asu.edu or follow @katlynewens on Twitter.
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