In Game Two against the No. 19 Colorado College Tigers (12-11-1), the No. 11 Arizona State Sun Devils failed to sweep the two-game home series, falling 5-4. A seven-goal third period benefited the Tigers, and the Sun Devils lost possession of first place in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC).
“Credit to them for not going away. They played a really, really hard period after going down 4-1,” ASU coach Greg Powers said of Colorado College. “They were desperate to get their season back on track, and they played like it in the third period, and we didn’t.”
The first two periods flipped the script of the third period: Arizona State held a 2-0 lead heading into the third frame. The Sun Devils’ first line, consisting of senior forward Ryan Kirwan, graduate student forward Artem Shlaine, and junior forward Charlie Schoen, delivered three goals at even strength.
“It feels good. Just to kind of kind of get that out of the way. I’ve been trying my best to just stay focused on the process, and eventually, the production would come,” Schoen, who appeared in his ninth game of the season, said. “Luckily, I have great linemates who keep me on track and definitely helped keep the mental side of it good for me…Now kind of just play free and play with some confidence.”
The first line’s chemistry was on full display during the third-period frenzy. Twenty seconds into the frame, after Tigers junior forward Noah Laba pulled off a wrap-around score, Schoen scored two goals 4:33 apart.
At the 18:17 mark of the third period, Shlaine threaded the needle through a sliding Colorado College defenseman to a crashing Schoen at the far-right post for a tap-in tally.
The Andover, Minnesota native wasn’t done there: from the left point, Kirwan found Schoen racing to the net. The 5-foot-10, 160-pounder muscled off a Tiger to redirect the puck into the net.
“Really good. They’re pretty much two of our only guys who were really going,” Powers said of Kirwan and Schoen, who both potted two-goal performances.
However, despite having 24 shots blocked, it all was Tigers from then on with 13:43 left in regulation: Six seconds after Schoen netted his second goal, Laba cashed in his second goal on a three-on-two rush. Nearly a minute later, Colorado College graduate student forward Chase McLane buried a second-chance opportunity from the slot, cutting the ASU lead down to one.
“I think we kind of just sat on our toes for a little bit,” Kirwan said on what went wrong for Arizona State. “We’re going to be in that position a lot this year, hopefully. So we just got to play sound defensively and got to play a full 60 minutes.”
The floodgates opened for the Tigers when sophomore defenseman Max Burkholder tied the game with a slap shot from the point with under nine minutes to play. Several bodies were in the crease, and Homer never saw it. Powers challenged for goaltender interference, but the call on the ice stood.
Kirwan said the message on the bench was not to panic. Unfortunately for the Sun Devils, they weren’t able to slow down the Tigers’ tireless comeback: Colorado College sophomore forward Drew Montgomery whipped a wrister off a feed from behind the net to give his team its first lead of the game.
Arizona State pulled Homer to make it a six-on-five advantage with 2:30 left in the game but failed to level the score.
“They were desperate, and we looked like a team that took winning for granted,” Powers said. “It’s a great lesson because it’s hard to win. It’s hard to win in this league. It’s hard to win in college hockey.”
ASU has another NCHC opponent clash in its next series on the road against the Miami of Ohio RedHawks. The two-game tilt on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 will be housed at the Goggin Ice Center.
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