ASU hockey hosts American International in the final home series of the season as the Sun Devils look to stay in the mix for the NCAA Tournament.
Thirty down. Four to go. That is what is left of Arizona State hockey’s regular season.
With the team inching closer and closer to an NCAA tournament bid, ASU will play in front of their fans in Tempe two more times this weekend as they welcome American International College to Oceanside Arena.
AIC, the current leaders of the Atlantic Hockey Conference, will look to play spoiler for the Sun Devils this weekend. With a sweep, ASU could lock themselves in the top-10 in the Pairwise Rankings to ensure an NCAA tournament bid.
American International will look to continue their five-game win streak, following sweeps of both Army and Niagara.
The Yellowjackets have had no trouble scoring goals this year, as they average 3.4 goals per game. Most of these goals, coming off a shot or pass by junior Blake Christensen.
Christensen will enter play Friday with 13 goals and 37 points, good for third in the NCAA. Behind him, AIC has 15 players with double digits in points, meaning all three of the Sun Devils defensive pairs will be put to work against this hard working and deep Yellowjacket offense.
Arizona State’s defense will have their hands full this week with this AIC offense, especially when Christensen is on the ice.
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Goalie Joey Daccord will once again have to come up big for his team. The junior remains one of the top goalies in the NCAA, with a 19-10-1 record and 2.18 GAA, while leading the NCAA in saves with 882.
Similarly, the Yellowjackets will have problems of their own with the high-octane offense that ASU boasts. Given AIC has allowed 3.1 goals per game, junior goalie Zackarias Skog carries only an .892 save percentage.
With the NCAA leading scorer Johnny Walker continuing to contribute and fill the back of the net, American International will have a tough test against Walker and the rest of the Sun Devils offense.
Forwards Jake Clifford, Dylan Hollman and Anthony Croston have been as important as anyone to the success of ASU this year. They will take the ice at Oceanside Ice Arena, for a game, for the last time this weekend, as it is senior night on Saturday. Jack Rowe and Jakob Stridsberg will also likely dress on Saturday night given it will be their last home game as well.
A Cinderella season is nearing its end. Two more teams stand in the Sun Devils way of their first NCAA Tournament berth in program history. Two wins may be all it takes to book their ticket to a Regional Championship.
Although, according to Greg Powers, the team isn’t worrying about the NCAA tournament, just yet. “We are just going to take care of business Friday, then worry about Saturday, and so on.”
The final home series of the most successful season in program history to date, and the NCAA tournament looming. It will sure be an exciting weekend in Tempe.
All quotes in this article were obtained firsthand by Devils in Detail unless otherwise noted.