Although the odds are stacked against them, the No. 12 Arizona State men’s hockey team (18-11-2) battle for first place in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) with the No. 3 Western Michigan Broncos (22-6-1) is still ongoing. Heading into Friday’s clash between the two teams, the Broncos sat in first place with a five-point lead over the Sun Devils with two games in hand.
Regardless of what other factors could determine where ASU finishes its season, a sweep over Western Michigan can keep Arizona State’s first-place hopes alive. Although they dominated most of Game One, the Sun Devils pulled through and knocked off the Broncos 5-3.
Right off the bat, Western Michigan had the edge, wasting no time getting pucks toward the net and creating grade-A chances. Despite carrying the play for the first 10 minutes, ASU graduate student forward Ty Jackson opened up the scoring for the Sun Devils. Graduate student forward Lukas Sillinger caused a turnover and slid it over to Jackson, who deposited the puck into the net on a sharp-angle shot.
A little over a minute later, Arizona State doubled its lead. Senior forward Ryan Kirwan threw one on the net that seeped through Bronco graduate student goaltender Cameron Rowe. The Penn State transfer has now scored 20 goals on the season.
If you have watched ASU this year, a common occurrence comes when they end up in the penalty box after scoring a goal. That trend continued, and although Western Michigan wasn’t able to convert, it did give them back the energy they had to start the game.
That momentum continued for the Broncos in the second period, when they took complete control of the game. Their 2-1-2 forecheck caused immense difficulty for the Sun Devils, who were unable to break the puck out, resulting in turnover after turnover.
“Didn’t love how we managed pucks tonight. We knew they would come hard on the forecheck, but we got to be a lot better going back for pucks and making smarter plays tomorrow if we are going to get another win,” ASU coach Greg Powers said. “Just a slugfest, tons of resiliency from our guys.”
Western Michigan was pouring it on until they finally broke through. Junior defenseman Samuel Sjolund found the back of the net with a seeing-eye shot from the point to get the Broncos on the board just over six minutes into the second period.
Arizona State remained on its heels trying to stay afloat against an aggressive Western Michigan team that was giving them everything they had. Just over three minutes after Sjolund cut the Sun Devils’ lead in half, sophomore forward Alex Bump picked his spot in the top left corner tying the game at two.
Finding a way was a recurring theme for the Sun Devils on Friday night and they continued to find ways to capitalize when they did generate chances. Junior forward Bennett Schimek stuck with it driving to the net before converting on the rebound to give ASU a 3-2 lead with just under six minutes left to play in the second period.
Arizona State was outshot 20-10 in the second period. If it wasn’t for senior goaltender Luke Pavicich, the Sun Devils might not have been able to maintain the lead heading into the third period. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound netminder stopped 18 shots in the second period and finished the night stopping 39 of 42 shots for a .929 save percentage.
“Luke was phenomenal. He was steady, he made big saves, he made the saves he was supposed to, he was probably our best player tonight,” Powers said. “I challenged him after Duluth to win us a big game and tonight he did, really proud of him.”
With the way the Broncos were playing, it wasn’t going to be an easy finish for the Sun Devils. Western Michigan freshman forward Zach Nehring tied up the game at three just two minutes into the third period.
Over three minutes later, ASU reclaimed the lead. Jackson’s nifty deflection in front gave the Sun Devils a 4-3 lead 4:47 into the third period.
“I gave him (Ty Jackson) the warrior award, he was unbelievable,” Powers said. “He drove play, went to the net, he was a great leader, we put him on the kill he was aggressive … he was fantastic.”
Western Michigan gave it all they had but Arizona State dug down and continued to grind, and battle out a heavy, physical game. This approach somehow managed to keep the Broncos from tying it up. With less than three minutes remaining, sophomore forward Kyle Smolen’s shot off the right-wing faceoff circle trickled down into the empty net. This gave the Sun Devils a well-needed insurance marker and a 5-3 lead.
First place in the NCHC and a secure spot in the Pairwise rankings remain possible with that win, but another victory is needed against a hungry Broncos team. The puck drop for Game Two of this series is set for 5 p.m. MST at Mullett Arena.
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