In a season-high, three-game losing streak, No. 16 Arizona State (17-6-5) needed a win against Augustana (7-12-3) on Saturday to remain in contention for an NCAA Tournament berth.
It was an appropriate time to have Sun Devils hockey alumni in attendance for additional support, along with head football coach Kenny Dillingham and members of the football team watching from the student section of Mullet Arena.
ASU responded, scoring three goals in the final two periods to defeat Augustana 3-2.
“It was nice to get a win from them tonight,” coach Greg Powers said. “And you know, a lot of those guys [alumni] didn’t get the opportunity to play here but they helped us build this place, this program. You never want to lose in front of your alumni. … I thought that was really cool of Kenny to bring the football team and he said half the guys have never seen a hockey game so hopefully they enjoyed it.”
After losing to the Vikings in the final seconds on Friday, ASU’s seniors stepped up in game two. Graduate forward Brian Chambers scored the go-ahead goal 6:46 into the third period.
“It was a must win, right?,” Chambers said. “Last night didn’t go our way. Probably not what we deserved, but it happened, we had to live with it. Heading into tonight, we had to get this win, especially going into the break. We wanted to go in with some momentum and so we did, we executed.”
Senior forward Matthew Kopperud had a team-high two points (both assists) and senior defenseman Tim Lovell scored for the second straight game.
The Sun Devils underclassmen also did their part. Sophomore goalie Gibson Homer made his first start since Dec. 9 against Dartmouth and had 27 saves.
“Gibby [Gibson] held the fort down and looked like a season guy back there,” Powers said. “And we have two great goaltenders. TJ had a rough one last night, he’ll be back. We wouldn’t be where we are without him.”
Sophomore forward Charlie Schoen had one goal and sophomore forward Ryan Alexander had an assist, his second consecutive game with a point. Freshman defenseman Anthony Dowd also earned an assist.
ASU was without captain Tyler Gratton, who sustained a lower-body injury in game one of the series. The extra adversity was partially negated when Augustana was penalized for a “protocol violation” after failing to leave the ice in time after the conclusion of pre-game warmups.
The penalty put ASU on a rare power play to start the game, but the man advantage was short-lived. One minute into the first period, Lovell was penalized for interference.
Augustana’s penalty expired, giving the Vikings a brief man advantage. On the power play, Augustana took a 1-0 lead 2:46 into the game.
Junior defenseman Uula Ruikka’s wrist shot from the point deflected off Senior defenseman Ty Murchinson’s shin pad and trickled past Homer. Sophomore forward Colton Friesen and graduate senior forward Ryan Naumovski had an assist.
“I thought we were unbelievable the whole game,” Homer said. “A couple bad bounces came from good intentions trying to block the shot. No complaints at all.”
Down one goal after the first, Lovell tied the game 1-1 three minutes into the second period. Dowd’s shot from the blue line went wide and hit the boards behind the net. The puck redirected toward Lovell’s stick and he buried the rebound into the empty net.
Schoen scored 38 seconds later to give ASU the lead. On the forecheck, Kopperud stole the puck from freshman goalie Josh Kotai behind the net and dished the puck to Schoen, who fired a shot before Kotai could regain position in front of the net.
“I thought (Matthew) Kopperud was really good,” Powers said. “He really stepped up and led us in a really positive way.”
Augustana trailed 2-1 after the second intermission but tied the game 3:33 into the third period.
Freshman forward Brett Meerman fired a wrist shot from the slot. Homer made the initial save but sophomore forward Ben Troumbly chased the rebound and scored.
The Sun Devils regained the lead three minutes later thanks to another great pass from Kopperud.
With the puck on his backhand, Kopperud glided towards the slot from the left wing boards above the faceoff circle. As Augustana defenders enclosed him, Kopperud rifled a pass to Chambers, who was alone in front of the net behind the Augustana defense.
“It was a tie game,” Chambers said. “I knew we really needed to win this one. So I kind of cheated on offense a bit and I knew (Matthew) Kopperud was that player that could make the play to me, so when I got it, I thought to fake a shot, open him up, and slide it right through the five hole.”
It was Chamber’s third goal of the season and first since Dec. 9 against Dartmouth.
Leading 3-2, the Sun Devils withstood Augustana’s desperate push to equalize the game. Homer made his best save of the night on sophomore forward Colton Friesen with 7:50 left. On a two-on-one rush, junior forward Luke Mobley passed across the slot to Friesen. But Homer slid across his crease and made the split save.
In the Augustana net, Kotai finished with 27 saves.
The Sun Devils snapped their skid and gave themselves a chance to bolster their NCAA Tournament resume with 10 games remaining in the season.
“Do we have to win out? Probably not,” Powers said. “But there’s very, very little margin for error. It’s just one game at a time and go win 10 games and whatever happens happens.”
ASU enters their second bi-week of the season on a winning note. Powers hopes to have Gratton and top-six forward Tyler Jackson, who hasn’t played since ASU’s Dec. 1 game against Colorado College, back for the home stretch.
“The off week could not be coming at a better time to heal up and give our guys some rest,” Powers said. “We didn’t have a break over the holidays. … Our guys are beat up and tired and you could feel it a little bit tonight. So the week off is going to be very good for us.”
The Sun Devils will host fellow independent Lindenwood (3-14-3) for a two-game series on Friday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. MST and Saturday, Feb. 3. At 5 p.m. MST.
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