Forward Liam Norris fights for the puck in a game against the University of Illinois, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014 at Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe. The Sun Devils defeated the Fighting Illini 3-1. (Photo by Ben Moffat)STRONGSVILLE, Ohio - For the third year in a row, defending champions ASU advanced to the ACHA semifinals after beating Lindenwood 5-2 Sunday.
The team didn't come to make it this far, they came for a repeat.
"Doesn't matter if you lose in the semis or your lose in the first round, same result," coach Greg Powers said. "We didn't come here to get to the semis, we came here to win four games so we are two down and got two to go."
Tonight the Sun Devils came out on fire. Within the first 13 minutes of the game, ASU had three on the board and Lindenwood didn't have any.
The first goal of the night was from sophomore forward Sean Murphy off the assists from sophomore forward Patrick Yudez and junior forward Ryan Belonger.
Sunday was a whole team effort.
Saturday all six goals and 10 assists were from just three players: sophomore left wing Eric Rivard, senior forward Liam Norris and sophomore forward David Norris. But Sunday, numerous players racked up goals and assists, including one power-play goal from that same Norris-Norris-Rivard line.
Going into this game, the Sun Devils needed to avoid penalties and the Lions needed to take advantage of those power plays, which was exactly what happened.
ASU only gave Lindenwood two power plays, one of which they were able to score on.
Early in the second period, sophomore defenseman Connor Schmidt was sent the box for tripping and almost immediately center Tobias Nasgarde was there with the goal from forwards Peppi Sipila and Stephen Bopp. That was the last goal of the night for the Lions.
Again without ACHA tournament MVP sophomore goalie Robert Levin, ASU had great defense including two strong blocks from sophomore right wing Michael Cummings.
"We know that we can rely on Felbel back there, he's proven twice now," Cummings said. "He looks solid in net and we don't have a worry going into whoever we face next. For Felbs to step in and play like he's playing is a huge weight off everyone's shoulders."
The Sun Devils kept the momentum throughout the entire game as sophomore forward Patrick Yudez put them away with the final goal off the assists from Schmidt and freshman defenseman Gianni Mangone.
"It's always a good relief (putting the final goal away) definitely at that point of the game," Yudez said. "I mean we were kind of scrambling around, but it's a good assurance goal to get."
The tournament has now been narrowed down to four teams for the semifinals ASU, No. 2 Central Oklahoma, No. 3 Minot State and No. 5 Stony Brook.
It would have been the top four seeds going into the tournament by Stony Brook upset Robert Morris 5-4 last night with two incredible last-minute goals. Tomorrow's game will be a rematch of last year's semifinals game, where ASU defeated Stony Brook 4-3.
The two teams will battle it out tomorrow night at 2 p.m. Arizona time followed by the Central Oklahoma/Minot State game at 5 p.m..
Three Stars:
Patrick Yudez (final goal, one assist)
Connor Schmidt, ASU (one goal, one assist)
Michael Cummings, ASU (one goal, two crucial blocks)
Reach the reporter at kewens@asu.edu or follow @katlynewens on Twitter.
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