ASU Hockey: Sun Devils finish season with 5-3 loss to Michigan

TEMPE, AZ - OCTOBER 10: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky performs on the field during the fourth quarter of the college football game against the Colorado Buffaloes at Sun Devil Stadium on October 10, 2015 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
TEMPE, AZ - OCTOBER 10: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky performs on the field during the fourth quarter of the college football game against the Colorado Buffaloes at Sun Devil Stadium on October 10, 2015 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)

It was deja vu for ASU hockey Saturday night as Michigan won the season finale 5-3 with the Sun Devils finishing the season with a record of 8-19-5.

The Sun Devils completed their second season in the NCAA Saturday night, losing 5-3 to Michigan.

Arizona State (8-21-5) upped their play after a slow start; however, it was too little, too late against the Wolverines (18-13-3) for the second straight night.

As a matter of fact, ASU finished the season with three consecutive 5-3 losses. During each game in Ann Arbor, the Sun Devils faced a 4-2 deficit heading into the third period.

According to Sun Devil Athletics, head coach Greg Powers said, “It was another bad start. That’s what I told the guys after the game, is that we’re going to fix how we start games.”

The rough starts have plagued the team all season, seemingly robbing them of reaching their potential.

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On Saturday, Johnny Walker stepped up to lead the comeback like he has for most of 2018.

Walker netted his 16th goal of the season midway through the second period. At the time, the Wolverines led 4-0.

Nearly seven minutes after his first goal, Walker struck again, this time on the power play. His team-leading 17th score closed the gap to two goals.

Although a power play goal by Michigan’s Tony Calderone put the game nearly out of reach, Filips Buncis responded in less than two minutes for the Sun Devils.

“We pushed back and proud of their effort and heart, and ability not to give up – there’s a lot of resiliency in that room,” Powers said, according to Sun Devil Athletics. “There are some positives to draw on for sure.”

Buncis’ first goal made the score 5-3, which held for the rest of the game. In the end, it was Arizona State’s inability to slow down the Wolverine’s offense that led to the loss.

The Wolverines heavily outshot the Sun Devils, finishing with a 46-27 edge.

Sophomore goaltender Joey Daccord was left with little help, as most 41-save performances do not lead to five-goal nights for the opposing team.

The Sun Devils are not like most teams, however, because the program is fairly new and still growing.

“We’ve absolutely made progress. We didn’t get the amount of wins we wanted to, but I think the biggest thing we have that we’re going to continue to build on and draw from is we have some young talent that can really play,” Powers said, according to Sun Devil Athletics.

Powers’ young talent includes what many claimed to be a strong recruiting class from a year ago.

The group includes Walker, Jacob Wilson, Max Balinson, Dominic Garcia, Gvido Jansons and Buncis. All six freshmen saw a lot of playing time throughout the season.

Expect the defense as a unit to improve next season, as three starters — Wilson, Balinson and Jansons — will head into their sophomore campaign.

Next: ASU Hockey: Sun Devils fall just short in Ann Arbor

The Sun Devils ended their season in Ann Arbor, Mich., finishing with another eight-win season against Division I foes.