Devils in Detail
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ASU Hockey: Sun Devils Split Series with Raiders

By Nicholas Badders

Dec 13, 2014; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky reacts during the second half against the Pepperdine Waves at Wells-Fargo Arena. Sun Devils defeated the Waves 81-74 Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 13, 2014; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky reacts during the second half against the Pepperdine Waves at Wells-Fargo Arena. Sun Devils defeated the Waves 81-74 Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Arizona State Sun Devils (4-13-0) played at home for the second weekend in a row, splitting yet another series, this time with the Colgate Raiders (4-9-4) sitting on the away bench.

Arizona State came into the series looking for their first sweep in NCAA play, while Colgate aimed to snap a three-game losing streak. The Sun Devils were close to sweeping the RPI Engineers a week ago, coming in to the series with Colgate eager and hungry to match their win total in NCAA from last season.

ASU picked up their fourth win of the season on Friday night in a back-and-forth thriller that saw a final score of 5-4. Ryland Pashovitz picked up his second win of the season and Louie Rowe scored his first two goals not only of the season, but of his career, with one of them being shorthanded.

However, the Sun Devils were not as lucky in the second game, as their 2-1 lead at the end of the first period did not hold, with Raider power play goals being the difference in the contest and tempers flaring at the end.

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Game 1: Friday, December 2nd vs. Colgate (5-4 Win)

Coming into game one of the two-game set, Arizona State had won three games on the season. All three saw the Devils score exactly five goals and the three accounted for four of the team’s seven power play goals, with the other three coming from the twelve ASU losses. Their fourth win of the season was no different, as the team scored exactly five goals and added two more power play goals to the season tally.

Just under five and a half minutes into the game, captain Dylan Hollman was called for the game’s first penalty, a two minute minor for hitting from behind. That did not phase the shorthanded Arizona State, as with 15 seconds left for the Sun Devils to kill the penalty, Redshirt Sophomore Louie Rowe poked around at the puck while in Colgate’s control and developed a breakout of his own, going one-on-one with Colgate goalie Charlie Finn and sneaking the puck past him for an early 1-0 lead.

The rest of the first period went scoreless, the next goal of the game came in the middle twenty minute period, the first of the period’s four goals. Bobby McMann evened the score for the Raiders four minutes into the second period, but ASU stormed back, taking advantage of a roughing call on Colgate’s Jared Cockrell, as they went on the power play and scored 37 second into the power play, Robbie Baillargeon’s eighth goal of the year.

Jakob Stridsberg increased the Sun Devil’s lead to 3-1 with an even strength goal, but the Raiders were quick to counter, scoring a goal of their own 32 seconds later and bringing them within 1. The game’s scoring didn’t stop there, with four more goals being scored in the third period. Tim Harrison scored the game’s third unassisted goal four minutes and twenty one seconds into the third, knotting the game at three goals apiece.

Louie Rowe scored his second goal of the game and his career a few minutes later, with assists coming from Anthony Croston and Robbie Baillargeon. Roughly 30 seconds later, Colgate’s Derek Freeman was called for a penalty, but he only sat in the box for 8 seconds, as Brinson Pasichnuk stretched the Sun Devil lead to 5-3. The lead would hold for ASU and while it came down to the wire, Jake Kulevich’s goal for the Raiders with 6:55 to go in the game proved to not be enough.

Arizona State successfully took advantage of the power play arguably for one of the first times all season, as Colgate was called for 8 penalties, serving 16 penalty minutes. In addition, the Devils spent less time shorthanded and not only were successful in killing the opposing power play, but they also scored their first shorthanded goal of the year.

Sophomore goalie Ryland Pashovitz had a save percentage of .882 and the Sun Devils only took 28 shots on goal, but made the shots count, with approximately one of every 5.6 shots going in for a goal. Teamwork was strong in the squad’s fourth victory on the 2016-17 schedule, with eight assists being tallied, two coming from each Robbie Baillargeon and Tyler Busch, who happen to be the team’s leading scorers too.

Game 2: Saturday, December 3rd vs. Colgate (3-2 Loss)

Fresh off a 5-4 win, the Sun Devils looked to sweep the series and win back-to-back games to provide much-needed momentum in the season.

Like the previous night, Arizona State opened up the scoring when Wade Murphy nettled his second goal of the year just about halfway through the first period. Arizona State would maintain their 1-0 lead for the next nine minutes, when Colgate’s Brett Corkey scored his fourth goal of the year. Just over a minute later, with 12 seconds left in the period, Arizona State took back their lead, with Anthony Croston scoring his first goal of the year.

Despite a penalty called on the Raiders at the time of the goal, ASU was unable to hold the lead for long, as Louie Rowe was called for interference and saw a goal scored while he spectated from the penalty box.

Two more penalties came and went in the second period, sending the game into the second period still tied at 2. The Sun Devils were only able to fire off three shots in the period, shots that came from the sticks of Baillargeon, Riley Simpson and Jordan Masters. Previous to this period, ASU had never had less than four shots in a period.

Their fate did not improve and the collapse continued, as the team was not able to hold onto their “record” for long. Tyler Busch and Brinson Pasichnuk took the only shots of the period for the team, as Arizona State had half as many shots in the final two periods of the game as they did in the first period alone.

They managed to stay out of the penalty box for the first 8 minutes, but at 8:11 in the third, Masters was called for charging, giving him ASU’s sixth penalty of the game. This charging call proved to be the difference, as with one second left in the penalty kill, Colgate’s Derek Freeman scooted the puck past Pashovitz, who was making his second start in as many games.

Pashovitz was out to pick up his third straight win, but with Arizona State’s penalty kill once again proving to be weak, the Sun Devils were unable to score again after Croston’s first period goal. Pashovitz exited the game 46 second left so that ASU could skate 6 men on the ice, but the final remained 3-2, sending the ASU players to the showers still without a series sweep in the franchise history.

Not only were the Devils outscored 3 to 2, but they were outshot 27 to 15 as well. The Raiders spent less time in the penalty box and despite a .889 save percentage in the game from Pashovitz, Arizona State fell for their 14th loss of the year.

To add to the frustration of the loss, while the teams were shaking hands after the game, a brawl broke out. Edward McGovern was handed 15 penalty minutes, a 5 minute major for fighting and 10 minutes for disqualification, meaning he will likely serve a suspension of some sort.

Next: ASU Hockey: Colgate Series Wrap-Up and Notes

The Sun Devils have over a week off, with their next game coming on the road against American International Yellow Jackets (3-6-6) in Springfield, Massachusetts on Tuesday, December 13th.