Devils in Detail
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ASU Hockey: Sun Devils vs. Engineers Series Preview

By Nicholas Badders

Dec 13, 2014; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky reacts during the first half of the game against the Pepperdine Waves at Wells-Fargo Arena. Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 13, 2014; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky reacts during the first half of the game against the Pepperdine Waves at Wells-Fargo Arena. Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports /
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After a two-week road trip to the east coast that concluded with the Arizona State hockey team losing to Penn State 7-4 and 8-0, the Sun Devils come home to face the Rensselaer Poly Engineers for a two-game series.

Previewing RPI

The numbers for RPI look very similar to those of ASU. While the Sun Devils are 2-11-0, the Engineers are 2-11-1. Their two wins of the season have come against Rochester Institute of Technology (5-7-1) and Brown (1-7-0). Their most recent loss was a 5-0 game to New Hampshire (6-5-2), who Arizona State notably beat in overtime 5-4 to secure their second win of the season.

Rensselaer currently sits in 11th place out of the 12 teams in the Eastern College Athletic Conference, which is the same league as Harvard, who ASU faced earlier this season, as well as ranked teams in not only No. 9 Harvard, but No. 3 Quinnipiac, No. 17 Union, and No. 19 St. Lawrence as well.

The Engineers have certainly had a rough schedule through 14 games, they just faced No. 13 Ohio State and have also had games against Union, St. Lawrence, Yale (who was ranked #16 at the time of their game) and No. 5 North Dakota (who was ranked #1 at the time).

Special teams have been a source of strength for the Engineers, as they’ve allowed only 8 goals this season while on the penalty kill in 78 opportunities. In addition, they’ve scored 11 power play goals in 78 attempts this season.

Upperclassmen have led the team in goals scored this season as senior forward Riley Bourbonnais and junior defenseman Jared Wilson both have six goals to their credit through RPI’s first 14 games. Bourbonnais has multiple two-goal games, those came against Rochester Institute of Technology and Union. Sophomore Evan Tironese has an impressive 11 assists, five coming in conference play, which ranks him 9th in the league.

The Engineers have carried two goalies on their roster their season, both sophomores, in Chase Perry and Cam Hackett. Perry has been the main net-minder for the team, with 565 minutes in-goal, compared to 273 of Hackett. Perry also has a save percentage of .903, just a touch better than Hackett’s .897.

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Previewing ASU

After starting off the first nine games of the season against ranked opponents, the Sun Devils made the cross-country trip to face New Hampshire, the start of a 4-game road trip that resulted in their second win of the season, the first on the road for the team. Things went downhill from there however, losing a close 3-1 game to powerhouse Boston College (11-3-1), then dropping the series this past weekend to Penn State (11-1-1).

For the first several weeks of the season, Arizona State has struggled with special teams, with their opponents scoring 22 power play goals in 84 chances, while the Sun Devils themselves have only scored 6 power play goals in 72 chances through the first three games of this season. ASU’s 6 power play goals make up for 21% of the 28 goals they have scored this season.

On the other hand, the 22 goals allowed by ASU while on the penalty kill have accounted for approximately 32% of the 69 goals that they have let in.

The 69 goals allowed by Arizona State have been spread across all three of the team’s goalies, who have seen fairly equal time on the ice. Freshman Joey Daccord leads the trio with 344 minutes on the ice, however he also has allowed the most goals with 31. Sophomore Ryland Pashovitz has seen the least time of the three (by just two minutes) with 218 minutes between the posts, but he does have the highest save percentage of the three net-minders at .879.

In general this season, Arizona State goalkeepers had held their own in-goal, however things were a much different story against Penn State. In the first game, Daccord was given the starting nod, but after allowing 4 goals through the first 15 minutes and 16 seconds, he was pulled in favor of Pashovitz, who ended up taking the loss, allowing 3 goals in the final 44 minutes and 44 seconds of the game.

With both men struggling in the first game, coach Greg Powers turned to senior Robert Levin to start the Saturday afternoon contest, but 13 and a half minutes and 4 goals later, Pashovitz was brought in once again, where he spent the remainder of the game in front of the net, allowing another 4 goals.

Through all the struggles on the ice, there have been positives this season for ASU. Graduate transfer Robbie Baillargeon leads the team with 10 points and 6 goals and freshman Tyler Busch is second to Baillargeon in both categories with 7 points and 5 goals. Captain Dylan Hollman has been leading the team as captain, with 6 assists this year.

Comparisons

  • Rensselaer has scored only four first period goals this season, while ASU has allowed 29 during the first period. ASU on the other hand, has 11 first period goals and RPI has allowed 12 this season.
  • Arizona State has been successful on only 8.3% of their power play opportunities, while Rensselaer has had more success, scoring 14.1% of the time.
  • The two teams are fairly balanced when it comes to goals scored, ASU has netted 28 this year, RPI is one below them at 27.
  • ASU has played in only one overtime game and won, however RPI has played in three and is winless with a record of 0-2-1.
  • The Engineers are 0-3 in one goal games, while the Sun Devils are 1-1 in the same situation.
  • ASU is 1-4-0 at home this year, while RPI is 0-5-0 on the road, meaning they’re looking for their first road win of the season.

While there have been positives to the season, a majority of it has been rough for ASU, as they sit on a record of 2-11-0. With Arizona State playing 12 of their first 13 games against ranked opponents, the RPI series will be a much-needed breath of fresh air for the Devils, coming off the Penn State series. RPI will be the second non-ranked opponent they’ve faced this season. This weekend, a losing streak will be snapped one way or another, as ASU has dropped three straight games, while RPI’s streak of losses sits at five.

Next: ASU Hockey: ASU Falls to No. 10 Penn State

Both games will be played at Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe, with puck drop on Friday being at 7:05 p.m. MST, then at 5:00 p.m. MST on Saturday.