The Arizona State (7-4-1) men's hockey team defeated the University of Vermont (1-9-2, 0-6-1 Hockey East) 2-1 on Friday night and tied 2-2 on Saturday to pick up a 1-0-1 record over the weekend.
The Sun Devils have won seven of their last nine contests as they head into the final month of 2019.
Friday
After not having played for nearly three weeks, the Sun Devils were able to squeeze out a 2-1 victory over the Catamounts in the series opener on Friday night.
Sun Devils' forward James Sanchez scored twice within 12 minutes in the second period for his 16th and 17th points of the season to give ASU a 2-0 advantage.
Sanchez leads ASU in points this season with 17 (four goals, 13 assists).
ASU defenseman Josh Maniscalco and Brinson Pasichnuk both recorded assists on Sanchez's goals. Maniscalco had the first assist on the opening goal of the game, while Pasichnuk had the first helper on the second.
Vermont forward Ace Cowans scored just under three minutes into the third period to cut the Sun Devils' lead in half, but the effort was not enough as the Catamounts were handed their ninth loss of the season.
ASU goaltender Evan DeBrouwer made 29 saves in the game; UVM goalie Stefanos Lekkas had 31.
Saturday
The Sun Devils came into Saturday night's game continuing their streak of scoring first in the game, with defenseman Jack Judson scoring a goal with 4:02 left in the first period.
Austin Lemieux scored an insurance goal on a redirect from a Judson shot in the first half of the second period to double ASU's lead, similar to what the team had done the previous night.
Vermont's Ace Cowans scored his second of the series later in the second to get the Catamounts on the board, and teammate Vlad Dzhioshvili got the equalizing tally five minutes later to even the game at two.
A scoreless third period was followed by an eventful five-minute overtime period. ASU scored a goal that was later disallowed upon video review, and a scrum ensued on a later play. But, neither team scored, and ASU received a tie for the first time this season.
The Sun Devils will host top-ranked Denver (9-3-2, 1-3-2 NCHC) next Friday and Saturday night. Friday's contest will take place at Oceanside Ice Arena, while Saturday's game will be at Gila River Arena, the home of the Arizona Coyotes, in Glendale.
Denver is 4-1-1 while on the road this season and was ranked No. 4 in this week's USCHO Top 20 Poll.
Reach the reporter at aklatsky@asu.edu and follow @averyklatsky on Twitter.
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