Pioneers easily handle Sun Devils in weekend opener

You win some games, you lose some games, and others it's best to just learn and move on quickly.

The last was the story of the night for the Sun Devils, falling 7-1 to the Denver Pioneers in the weekend opener from Mullett Arena.

Denver looked every bit of the powerhouse that they have been of late, winning the opening and closing minutes of each period and leaving the Sun Devils scrambling for any shred of momentum.

The defensive scoring stood out once again for the Pioneers, getting two goals from leading scorer Eric Pohlkamp and a third from Boston Buckberger. Samu Salminen led the Pioneers with a 4 point night (1 G-3 A). In total, 12 different Pioneers registered at least one point against both Arizona State goaltenders. Samuel Urban got the start for the Devils and was replaced by Connor Hasley just before the midway point of the game.

The highlight of the game for the Sun Devils came in the second period when Bennett Schimek found the scoresheet for the third straight game with his 6th goal of the season on an assist by Cullen Potter. In his postgame comments, Coach Powers stressed that while the scoring from Schimek and Cruz Lucius is undoubtedly a positive, the scoring needs to be found from other guys on the roster more consistently.

The Sun Devils did play Denver evenly by the numbers, outshooting the Pioneers 33-32 and having more scoring chances (24-20), but the overall quality of chances that the Sun Devils produced relied once again on perimeter play and not creating enough traffic in the net front area. The Pioneers capitalized on their traffic and created chaos for both goaltenders, never able to fully settle.

The Sun Devils will be back in action looking for the split tomorrow night from Mullett Arena at 5pm.