Arizona State (3-0-1) capped off a strong home stand with a blowout win over Utah on Saturday night. (Hana Kaufman / Inferno Intel)
After Arizona State (3-1-0) eked out a narrow victory over Utah (2-2-0) in game one, the Sun Devils looked like a different team in game two on Saturday.
ASU scored six unanswered goals in the final 30 minutes to dominate the Utes 7-1 at Mountain America Community Iceplex.
The Sun Devils carried the momentum from their two-goal third period the previous night into the opening frame of game two. Six minutes into the game, ASU junior forward and captain Elle Mckenna dished a no-look backhand pass from behind the net to freshman forward Paige Ring.
The unexpected pass caught Utah sophomore goalie Miranda De Antunano by surprise. Ring buried her first collegiate goal into the empty nearside net to give the Sun Devils a 1-0 lead.
“My line was hustling from the very beginning and first couple of shifts,” Ring said. “We were working hard. And then eventually, Ellie got the puck behind the net. And I called for it.”
The Sun Devils outshot Utah 19-5 and controlled possession in the opening 20 minutes.
“We came more prepared tonight,” Ring said. “We had it in us from the start. We really showed up tonight and we were gelling more as a team.”
ASU continued to generate more scoring chances in the second period but could not find the back of the net. The Sun Devils’ inability to convert let the Utes hang around.
Seven minutes into the period, Utah freshman forward Sonia Charman stole the puck from senior defenseman Berkleigh Radcliffe off a faceoff in the ASU zone and tied the game 1-1.
“Ellie was running up and down the bench,” ASU coach Lindsey Ellis said. “She was saying, ‘go get another one. It’s our game,’ before any coaches could say anything. I’m really proud of our leadership for taking accountability and making sure that girls know that this is still our game.”
Utah freshman forward Molly Murphy took a roughing penalty one minute later to put the Sun Devils on the powerplay. Halfway through the man advantage, ASU senior defenseman Sami Lutsch put home a rebound off a shot from senior forward Hayley Martin to give the Sun Devils a 2-1 lead at the midpoint of the period.
ASU continued to put the pressure on the Utes. Sun Devil sophomore forward Tristan Craig’s quick wrist shot beat the glove of De Antunano top shelf to give ASU a 3-1 lead in the final minute of the period.
“I’ve never been more excited,” Craig said. “It was a big team effort. So that makes it even more exciting.”
ASU did not let Utah linger around in the second game, despite opening the final frame short-handed. One minute into the penalty kill, ASU senior forward Hayley Martin blocked a shot and took the puck across the ice. Martin deked Utah junior forward Holley Hanson one-on-one to make it a 4-1 game.
ASU sophomore forward Logan Sutera skated around the net and scored from the short side just above the red line to give ASU a 5-1 lead with 12 minutes remaining.
“The message was to play a full 60 minutes,” Ellis said. “But also the computer rankings. If we’re gonna play that hard, let’s get the goal differential for the rankings.”
Mckenna and junior forward Sam Murphy scored 30 seconds apart in the final minutes to make it 7-1 Sun Devils.
“I honestly don’t even remember what number goal I scored or how I scored,” McKenna said. “But we were burying pucks on the net and getting hungry. We just had that energy.”
The sweep made ASU perfect in WWCHL play to start the season. The Sun Devils have a bye week and then make its first road trip of the season to play four games in three days against conference rivals Colorado and Colorado State.
ASU plays Colorado Friday, Oct. 27 at the University of Colorado Boulder Recreation Center at 5 p.m. MST. Utah hosts Colorado State Friday at Salt Lake City Sports Complex at 4:30 p.m. MST.