ASU Hockey: Sun Devils win first series of the season at Holy Cross

The ASU hockey team (3-8-3) rallied from a two-goal deficit on Saturday night to tie Holy Cross 3-3, earning its first series win of the season.

Holy Cross snatched the lead nine seconds into the game, scoring immediately after the opening faceoff. However, just over one minute later, freshman forward Johnny Walker netted his third goal of the season for the Sun Devils with a quick wrist shot, tying the game 1-1.

“I’m really proud of our guys,” said ASU head coach Greg Powers. “We know that’s a really good team with a lot of upperclassmen leadership, so we knew how hard they were going to come out tonight.”

The Crusaders struck twice early in the second period, but were unable to keep the Sun Devils from getting back in the game. Six minutes later, sophomore Brinson Pasichnuk hammered a slap shot in-and-out of the goaltender’s glove and into the back of the net.

Less than a minute later, ASU’s Brett Gruber fired a clean shot through a crowd in front of the goaltender and found the back of the net, tying the game 3-3.

The third period consistent of numerous scoring chances for the Sun Devils, but they were unable to find the back of the net.

The ASU penalty kill shined in the spotlight once again, improving to over 84 percent effectiveness on the season.

“We found ourselves on the kill quite a lot,” Powers said. “[It] was unreal.”

After consecutive 40+ save performances against Penn State, sophomore goaltender Joey Daccord remained stout between the pipes this weekend for ASU. He stopped 39 of 42 shots on Saturday night.

Next: ASU Hockey: Sun Devils win first road game of the year against Holy Cross

The Sun Devils will have a week to recover from an intense series against Holy Cross before facing off with Princeton for a December 8-9 series.