The Sun Devils completed the sweep against ACHA opponent Ohio University in Tempe, Arizona Saturday night.
ASU currently has a losing streak against NCAA opponents that dates back to more than two months ago. However, they handled business this weekend defeating the Bobcats twice and scoring a total of 14 points.
Freshman Jordan Masters thought these two wins were important.
“I think it’s huge,” he said. “You know we went on a 13 game losing streak, so finally to get that winning momentum is big.”
The Sun Devils came out of the gates with a lot of energy in the first period. The team had three even-strength goals in the first period. Freshman forward Jordan Masters found the net immediately, scoring the Sun Devils’ first goal at the 2:18 mark in the first period.
Then, at 3:20, junior left wing Michael Cummings gave his team the 2-0 leading lighting the lamp on assists from freshman forward Matt Kennedy and sophomore defenseman Edward McGovern.
Center Garrett Peterson set up his teammate Sean Murphy for a goal to give the Sun Devils the 3-0 lead at 11:05 in the first period. That was Murphy’s second on the season.
At the 15:03 point in the first period, Ohio’s Grant Hazel was called for a penalty for checking from behind. The Sun Devils went on the power play, and Masters drilled one in giving the Sun Devils the 4-0 lead. That goal at the 16:02 mark gave Masters his second goal of the game.
The Sun Devils have found a way to score on the power play for its second consecutive game.
ASU head coach Greg Powers thought the four-goal first period set the tone.
“It was everything,” he said. "The key was to get out to a fast start tonight, get the first goal, play downhill, and make them feel like they couldn’t climb back into the game.”
The second period got chippy and physical as Ohio tried to battle back from a 4-0 deficit. Senior forward Michael Harris connected with the net for the Bobcats, but the Sun Devils still had the 4-1 advantage.
Masters answered back, netting a goal to complete the first hat trick in Sun Devil history.
“It’s a great feeling,” he said. “I can’t even remember the last time I had one, so it's good to get back finally."
Center Liam Norris sealed the deal for Sun Devils as he scored 38 seconds into the third period. The Bobcats tried to fight back, but their efforts could not out do the 6-1 defect.
Head Coach Greg Powers thought his team’s effort was better than it was last night.
“I thought we were better for 60 minutes,” he said. "I was really happy with the guys. I thought the effort was consistent, we just missed some chances in the second and third but the effort was good."
The Sun Devils get back to NCAA play as they go on the road next weekend for a three-game series at UMass and Merrimack.
Coach Powers thinks this weekend's games were good for the team.
“We are going to use this game to hopefully to build some confidence for a really tough weekend ahead of us,” he said.
Reach the reporter at chaz.frazier@asu.edu or follow @chazf on Twitter.
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