ASU hockey sweeps Arizona for the last time as an ACHA team

Senior forward Liam Norris skates with the puck in a game against Arizona on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015, at Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe. The Sun Devils defeated the Wildcats 7-2. (Ben Moffat/The State Press)

TUCSON – No. 1 ASU hockey (33-3-1) swept No. 25 Arizona (11-22-3) in the teams' last series together as ACHA teams.

ASU wanted to make sure to sweep the Wildcats this season and that’s exactly what the Sun Devils did on Saturday with a dominant final period.

The crowd thought Arizona was going to be the first on the scoreboard again tonight, but they were mistaken. With two straight shots on goal, sophomore goalie Robert Levin made sure they did not go into the second period behind.

The first period continued to be extremely physical yet uneventful.

Despite its physicality, only one penalty was called. Early in the opening period, ASU junior center Kyle Bowen was sent to the box for cross-checking, giving Arizona the first power play of the evening.

The Wildcats were unable to capitalize on their power play mainly because of some strong defensive saves from sophomore defenseman Connor Schmidt leaving the score 0-0 going into the second period.

The second period proved to be even more physical and still no goals. Arizona started the middle period with another power play after ASU defenseman Jordan Young was sent to the box for slashing. During this game, ASU was not afraid to use their whole bodies during this second period. Freshman defenseman Edward McGovern laid out to block a potential Arizona goal early in the middle period.

Arizona was unable to capitalize on any power plays throughout the night including the one during the middle period after McGovern was sent to the box for holding. The Sun Devils had strong effective defense during the power plays.

The middle period ended with some more penalties called on ASU senior forward Liam Norris and Arizona defenseman Anthony Rosetta for roughing. Shortly after, Arizona defenseman Shane Gleason was sent to the box for tripping Sun Devil freshman forward Connor Mailey, giving ASU a 30 second power play. The Sun Devils were unable to get that power play goal after McGovern and sophomore left wing Eric Rivard couldn’t get it in the net.

With a game that could have gone either way, ASU took the lead late in the final period with a goal from Mailey off the blocked attempt from sophomore right wing Michael Cummings.

“It was nice for our line, we were just saying right before we went out that we needed to push it in and get a goal for the next boys,” Mailey said.

One goal just wasn’t enough for the Sun Devils as they pulled ahead 2-0 with a goal from Young off the assists from both senior forward Faiz Khan and forward Chris Blessing.

The Sun Devils had one final power play they were unable to capitalize, leaving the final score 2-0. This was Levin’s ninth shutout of the season as he remains one of the best goalies in the ACHA.

“It was a great team effort again, everyone in front of me kept things simple, as last year,” Levin said. “Everyone does a great job keeping things on the outside. I mean I have nine and it’s because of the team not me.”

ASU swept Arizona in their last series together as ACHA teams. This was a strong way to end their semester as they head off to the ACHA National Tournament on March 5.

“It was good, it was really good to have two nice tight games in front of a big crowd in a tense setting,” Powers said. “It’s exactly what we are going to see in Cleveland and getting two wins this way is good for us.”

The Sun Devils will have all their players back for the start of the national tournament as junior forward Ryan Belonger has been cleared to play in the first game.

ASU will travel to Cleveland in attempts to defend its ACHA national championship on March 5.

Three Stars