ASU Hockey: Sun Devils bring momentum east to Harvard

ASU hockey, winners of three straight games, head back east looking to continue their momentum against the Harvard Crimson.

Ninety-nine games.

It took 99 regular season games for the Arizona State Sun Devils to receive their first ever Top-20 USCHO ranking.

Now, this group looks to accomplish more and continue to prove their naysayers wrong.

Arizona State will travel east, to take on their next opponent, the prestigious Harvard University. After sweeping Michigan State in Tempe last weekend, the Sun Devils have packed their winter coats and rolled into Cambridge, Massachusetts for a weekend series against Adam Fox and the 1-2-2 Crimson.

If ASU wants to climb higher in the rankings and position themselves well for a chance at an NCAA tournament berth down the road, a sweep against the Crimson will be crucial.

Despite the slow start, Harvard is a very good team with an above average defensive crop led by junior Adam Fox and sophomore Reilly Walsh. These two players especially will cause problems for ASU on both ends of the ice.

Harvard has felt the impact of losing nine players from last season headlined by forward Ryan Donato.

However, this hasn’t slowed the Crimson offense down. They are averaging 4.2 goals per game. This will be important for Arizona State to contain and continue to do what they have done all year long, own puck possession.

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If that fails them, goalie Joey Daccord will once again have to come up big for his team. He has been having his best season yet and head coach Greg Powers has often said, “this team will go as far as Dacs (Daccord) can take us.”

This Harvard defense hasn’t played up to par thus far this season. However, you have to think soon enough they will turn it around and turn in a performance where little or no goals are allowed.

As long as Arizona State can play the game they have been consistently playing and utilize their tools how they have been, they will delay that turnaround for the Crimson for another weekend.

The Sun Devils depth will have to continue to show, and that is where they can beat teams, especially those built like Harvard. The ability for all four lines to produce for ASU will once again be crucial in this series.

The nation’s leading scorer, Johnny Walker, will look to end a two-game goalless drought and remain atop the leading scorers board.

Once again, the repetitive message of having to stay discipline will have to be further emphasized this weekend. Harvard currently sits second in the nation on the power play with a conversion percentage of over 40 percent.

However, ASU does have the top penalty kill in the nation at 92.7 percent, but as Powers noted, “we can’t continue to rely on those guys.”

Anthony Croston spoke about the teams willingness to play tough defense and take pride in something such as the penalty kill saying “everyone’s bought in and everyone’s on the same page.”

Arizona State will play their first game with a number beside their name, but the players and coaches are trying not to mind too much attention to it.

“It’s been just another week of preparation for us, and we’re looking forward to another tough road test in Harvard,” Powers said earlier this week. “Our guys are focused on the task at hand, and we have our work cut out for us in one of the toughest atmospheres in college hockey.”

A pretty humble approach, to yet another large step for this young college hockey program.

If Arizona State wants to prove their worth as a legitimate Top-20 ranked team, they will have to come out firing on all cylinders against a hungry Harvard team this weekend.

The Sun Devils have captured the attention of everyone around the NCAA. They are beginning to be rewarded for their hard work and early season success.

The players are striving to make Arizona State a hockey school and continue to mount excitement in Tempe. The road to the first NCAA tournament berth for this young program has started. The magic number is set at 13. Harvard is next.