The Arizona State Men’s Ice Hockey team welcomed in the No. 18 Air Force Falcons this weekend for a two-game series at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
The Sun Devils gave away the first game to the Falcons, 4-2. Arizona State played a much cleaner game after getting situated into NCAA Division-I play during their first two games.
Air Force got the scoring going half-way through the first period. The Falcons leading scorer, Ben Kucera, buried his third goal of the season. Later in the period, the Sun Devils got on the board with a goal from freshman Tyler Busch, continuing his streak of a goal-per-game.
With just two and a half minutes left in the first period, the Sun Devils turned the puck over and Falcons junior defenseman Phil Boje scored on a breakaway to take the lead 2-1. Shots were 13 to 12 in favor of Air Force at the end of the period.
Air Force scored just four minutes into the second period to go up 3-1. Senior goaltender Robert Levin left the game after allowing three goals on 16 shots. Freshman Joey Daccord came in for the rest of the game.
Arizona State cut the lead to 3-2 with a goal from Brinson Pasichnuk, assisted by his brother, Steen. The Sun Devils were able to kill off four penalties during the second period.
In the third period, the Sun Devils turned it over in their defensive zone to set up another Falcons goal to make it 4-2. Arizona State was able to close the gap again when sophomore defenseman Nicholas Gushue scored with eight minutes left in the game.
The Sun Devils could not complete the comeback after dominating the third period in shots, 13 to 6. Arizona State fell to 0-3-0 on the season.
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In the second game of the series, the Sun Devils won their first game of the season, 5-2. It’s the first time the program has beaten a ranked opponent, and also the first win against an NCAA Division-I opponent at home.
Arizona State’s captain, redshirt sophomore forward Dylan Hollman, scored six minutes into the game to take their first lead of the season. Freshman forward Brett Gruber scored his first collegiate goal in the last minute of the first period to give the Sun Devils a 2-0 lead.
The Falcons closed the lead to one with an early goal in the first. The Sun Devils answered shortly after with a goal from Tyler Busch on the power play, continuing his goal streak having scored a goal in every game so far this season.
The Boston University graduate transfer Robbie Baillargeon scored his first goal as a Sun Devil on the power play to increase the lead 4-1. Arizona State found success on the power play going two for five with eight shots.
Red shirt junior Wade Murphy scored his first collegiate goal with a top-shelf snipe for the final Sun Devil goal.
Arizona State is now 1-3-0 on the season. The Sun Devils look to build off the win as they travel to Boston to take on No. 16 Northeastern in another two-game series next weekend.