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ASU hockey swept by Minnesota State in season road debut

The Sun Devils lost on Friday and Saturday night to fall to 1-3 on the season

_20191008 Hockey practice 0289.jpg

Junior forward Chris Grando (13) tries to score against freshman goaltender Justin Robbins (31) during practice on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019, at Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe, Arizona.


The ASU hockey team dropped to 1-3 on the season after being swept by No. 3 Minnesota State on Friday and Saturday evening in Mankato, Minnesota.

Friday

The Sun Devils dropped the first game of the series — ASU's road opener — on Friday night by a score of 4-1.

Minnesota State junior defenseman Riese Zmolek scored 8:03 into the opening period to give the Mavericks an early lead. 

ASU got an equalizing tally from junior forward Johnny Walker with just under two and a half minutes left to go in the period which evened the score at one. Sophomore defenseman Josh Maniscalco assisted on Walker's tally.

Both teams had one power-play each in the first period, but neither were able to capitalize on the man advantage opportunities.

The middle frame only featured one goal, which came from Minnesota State sophomore forward Julian Napravnik on the power-play with 1:31 left in the period.

The final period of play featured two more scores, both of which came from the stick of Mavericks' senior forward Marc Michaelis, MSU's leading point scorer from last season. 

Michaelis' first goal was short-handed and his second was on the power-play.

ASU sophomore goaltender Evan DeBrouwer allowed four goals on 29 shots in the game. Minnesota State's Dryden McKay stopped 24 of 25 shots he faced in the contest.

Saturday

Following Friday night's loss, the Sun Devils knew that they needed to regroup for Saturday's game. 

However, the Mavericks' offense was too dominant and continued its prowess from Friday's game, defeating the Sun Devils 5-0.

Mavericks' forward Dallas Gerads scored his first goal of the season just 2:43 into the game to give MSU an early lead; the Mavericks would not give up the lead for the rest of the night.

After a scoreless middle period, Minnesota State added four goals in the third period from Michaelis, Reggie Lutz, Lucas Sowder and Ryan Sandelin. 

The Sun Devils had trouble staying out of the penalty box, recording nine power-play chances for the Mavericks in the game. 

Minnesota State capitalized on three of those nine opportunities (Michaelis' and Lutz's goals), while ASU wasn't able to transition any of their five power-plays into goals.

ASU freshman netminder Justin Robbins made his NCAA debut late in the third period, relieving DeBrouwer of his duties in net after the former allowed four goals on 27 shots.

Robbins finished the game with 12 saves on 13 shots, allowing one goal from MSU forward Ryan Sandelin with less than a minute to go in the game.

The Sun Devils will head to Colorado Springs, Colorado next weekend to play the Air Force Academy Falcons in what will be their second of nine road trips this season.


Reach the reporter at aklatsky@asu.edu and follow @averyklatsky on Twitter. 

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