With only a few matchups remaining and an NCAA Tournament spot within reach, the ASU men’s hockey team traveled to Rochester, New York, and swept the Rochester Institute of Technology this weekend.
No. 16 ASU (19-10-1) had no issues in its 6-1 win on Friday, but the Sun Devils needed a pair of third period goals on Saturday to fend off RIT and win 4-2 inside the Gene Polisseni Center.
Although there was subzero weather in Rochester, ASU started hot on Friday as it scored twice in the first period, including a goal from redshirt senior forward Dylan Hollman just 26 seconds after the puck dropped. After that, junior forward Brett Gruber added a goal.
ASU also scored twice in the second period with a goal from junior forward Tyler Busch and another goal from Hollman. RIT scored its only goal late in the period, but it gave up two more goals in the final period to the Sun Devils. Both goals were put in from junior defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk.
It took ASU a little longer than 10 minutes to score on Saturday, but on an NCAA-leading 21st goal from sophomore forward Johnny Walker, the Sun Devils had the early lead. RIT answered with less than a minute left in the period. After freshman forward Demetrios Koumontzis scored an unassisted goal to put ASU up 2-1, RIT answered again to tie the game.
After a stalemate for most of the third period, sophomore defenseman Gvido Jansons scored his first goal of the year with 6:18 left. This turned out to be a game-winning goal as RIT couldn’t answer and Pasichnuk added an empty-net goal with 18 seconds left.
After a bye week, ASU will play a series against American International inside Oceanside Ice Arena for its final home games this season. Then, the team will travel to play Minnesota in the beginning of March for the final series of the regular season.
Reach the reporter at nahiatt@asu.edu or follow @NATE_HIATT on Twitter.
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