ACHA D I Hockey: ASU bounces back from first loss of the season to defeat San Diego State 11-0
ASU freshman center Ben Chase takes a faceoff draw in the second period of its game against San Diego State University Friday at Mountain America Community Iceplex. Chase scored two goals in the game. (Chase Clemens photo/InfernoTV)
Tempe - For the third game in a row, Arizona State (5-1) looked complacent with a two-goal lead. Unlike its previous game against UNLV, the Sun Devils eventually woke up Friday, scoring six goals in the second period to blow out San Diego State 11-0 at Mountain America Community Iceplex.
The Aztecs arrived in Tempe from San Diego Friday two hours before puck drop. Despite the travel, SDSU was competitive early. But the Sun Devils took a 2-0 first period lead thanks to goals from forwards Ben Chase (2) and Connor Tilmon (5).
Chase, son of former NHL player Kelly Chase, put home a rebound off a Trenton White shot on the power play. It was his first goal as a Sun Devil.
“I'm glad I got to share that moment with the guys,” Chase said. “They’re the reason I was able to score. As exciting as it was, it’s more of a relief.”
ASU outshot SDSU 10-6 but was plagued by neutral zone turnovers and lapses on defense.
“I didn't like our first period at all,” head coach Austin Cline said. “We weren't hard on pucks. We weren’t making simple plays and we weren't being physical.”
The Sun Devils up-and-down play continued into the first six minutes of the second period. ASU forward Jonathan Murphy instigated a post-whistle scrum after attempting to poke the puck from SDSU goalie Garret Fuller one too many times. Murphy and Aztecs defensemen Jake Abenojar and Cameron Henderson were given roughing penalties.
The Aztecs poked the bear. The physical altercation provided the spark the Sun Devils needed. 50 seconds later Wyatt Palmer deflected a Ty Marchant point shot to give the Sun Devils a 3-0 lead.
“The boys did a great job of stepping up there,” Chase said. “We protected our guys and we know the goals are going to follow if we play like that.”
The Sun Devils were afforded another man-advantage from an Aztecs tripping penalty nine minutes in. The Aztecs, again, could not defend the six-foot-three, 200-pound Wyatt Palmer in front of the net on the ASU power play. Palmer (2) tipped another blueline shot from Marchant to put the Sun Devils ahead 4-0 with 10:14 remaining.
“Palmers a nuisance and gets in the way,” Cline said. “He’s talented hockey player and he does well down low. It's exciting to see him finally get rewarded.”
ASU scored two more goals less than a minute later to make it 6-0. The Aztecs pulled Fuller and replaced him with Brody Hsiao. ASU deserves credit for putting six goals on Fuller. He played four seasons in the AJHL, one of the top junior leagues, and is SDSU’s biggest recruit in program history.
ASU narrowly outplayed the Aztecs in the opening 25 minutes. After Murphy’s scrum, the team was more focused and aggressive. The Sun Devils dominated puck possession, put SDSU on its heels and forced SDSU to take costly penalties.
“The players made the adjustments they needed to,” Cline said. “They woke up and that's when then they saw success. We got back to playing the way that we are supposed to be playing.”
ASU opened the third period with an 8-0 lead but played as if the score was tied. Sun Devils forward Sean Phillips (1) scored 48 seconds into the period. The fourth line scored its second goal of the period nine minutes later when Marc Desharm (1) found the back of the net for the first time this season.
Trenton White (1) also scored his first of the season three and a half minutes late on a point shot to make it 11-0.
“After the first intermission we got to work,” Cline said. “We put our work boots on and we had that blue collar mentality that we've been preaching since day one here. “
ASU learned from its first loss to UNLV. The team never took its lead for granted and played aggressively through the final 30 minutes of the game.
“We still haven't put in 60 really good minutes together,” Cline said, “Tomorrow we're gonna give some other guys some opportunity to show what they have and they should be hungry.”
ASU hosts SDSU in the final game of the series at 10:00 p.m. Saturday at MACU Iceplex.