TEMPE — As the clock reached the final two minutes of regulation, Arizona State looked to close out a home-opening victory in front of a raucous crowd against Holy Cross in Tempe.
A plethora of opportunities appeared throughout the final period that the Sun Devils squandered. The fans, especially the sold-out student section, were a ticking bomb, ready to explode.
And with five minutes to go, sophomore forward Daniel Shlaine took a second-chance opportunity after a blocked shot and buried it home with the wrist shot for the game’s first goal.
As the Maroon and Gold celebrated, it seemed a win was near. They dominated the prior two periods, doubling the number of shots on goal as the Crusaders.
But hockey lasts 60 minutes. And for a brief 11 seconds, ASU let it slip away as Holy Cross scored two goals in that span to steal a 2-1 victory in Tempe on Friday. Sophomore defenseman Quinn McCall tied the game on a slapshot from the blue line. Following an ASU timeout, it was sophomore forward Ben Richie with a wrist shot that gave the Crusaders the lead and the victory.
“We’re going to have to win one-score games the rest of the year,” Arizona State senior forward and captain Kyle Smolen said. “There’s no better opportunity to learn than now. We just gotta take a lot of lessons from this and move on and find a way to get better.”
After scoring 11 goals in its weekend series against Lindenwood to open the season, and a whirlpool amount of opportunities against Holy Cross, it was Shlaine’s wrist shot that ended up being the only shot that crossed the opposing team’s goal line.
The Crusaders outshot the Sun Devils 11-10 in the first period, but after that, the home team outshot Holy Cross the next two periods. But many shots were blocked, off the mark and checked away. Several odd-man rushes never came to fruition and gave the Sun Devils the cushion they looked for.
Another issue was one half of special teams. The penalty kill unit did its job, killing off three penalties to remain perfect in that department in the young season. But three power play opportunities, all coming in the second period, all went to waste.
“It’s our power play in my short time here for the few years has kind of bailed us out in games like this,” interim coach Mike Corbett said. “But we got our looks, we got our chances, and their goalie (Danick Leroux) was good. He made some saves at the right times.”
The Sun Devil faithful were shocked by how quickly things fell apart, and after the past month and a half, it was something the team can’t afford.
A dark cloud has been following the Sun Devils for nearly two months, with the news of sophomore defenseman Matthew Mayich, who suffered a life-threatening injury during an outdoor practice on Aug. 20.
Backlash followed ASU and its coaching staff. Longtime head coach Greg Powers was placed on paid administrative leave in late September. Corbett, an assistant coach, has replaced Powers as the school’s interim head coach.
“I care about these kids,” Corbett said. “We care about this program, and the kids want to play, and we’re in place right now. So I’m going to give them the absolute best that I can give them.”
It’s been a hard time for both the players and coaches, as Mayich has been hospitalized since the incident. While they want to move and focus on playing hockey, it’s challenging.
“I think everyone in the leadership group has a different style of leadership, and we all try to bring that to the table,” Arizona State senior forward Sean McGurn said. “And I think we do a good job of bringing everyone.”
The Sun Devils finish the weekend series on Saturday at 3 p.m. local time, an earlier start because of ASU football playing later in the day at 7:30 p.m.
Mayich’s jersey is hanging in the locker room. It’s a reminder that the mindset, no matter how the season goes, is all for No. 27.
“Everything we do here on-out (is) for him,” McGurn said. “So seeing that jersey reminds us what we’re doing it for.”
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