ASU hockey knew it committed to playing a tough schedule in the 2016-17 season. The team had faced many challenges through its first 12 games, with more than half of its opponents being ranked in the top 20.
A two-game series with No. 10 Penn State (11-1-1) was the latest of these challenges for the Sun Devils (2-11-0) this season, and after a 7-4 loss Friday night, ASU looked to split the weekend on Saturday.
Instead, a five-goal first period for Penn State put those hopes to bed early and propelled the Nittany Lions to a commanding 8-0 victory over ASU at Pegula Ice Arena in University Park, Pa.
"They wanted to put us away early, and they did," head coach Greg Powers said.
Just 32 seconds into the game, freshman forward Steenn Pasichnuk went down behind the ASU net with an apparent knee injury. He ended up missing the rest of game.
The first nine minutes went back-and-forth as both teams exchanged solid chances. Crisp breakouts combined with solid fore-checking and back-checking was on display from both teams.
But at 9:19 in the opening period, senior forward Dylan Richard put Penn State on the board with a shot that rang the post, hit off of ASU senior goaltender Robert Levin's back, and into the net.
From that point on, the game spiraled out of control for the Sun Devils.
The 10th-ranked team in the country put home four more goals in a span of just over five minutes. One power-play goal by sophomore forward Chase Berger, a short-handed goal by freshman forward Nate Sucese and two even strength goals by sophomore defensemen Vince Pedrie and Kevin Kerr respectively, put the game out of reach early.
Following the even-strength goal by Pedrie, Levin was chased from the net after allowing four goals on 10 shots. Just like Friday night, sophomore goalie Ryland Pashovitz was tabbed to replace Levin.
Saar out of the box at the perfect time finds Pedrie for the goal at 13:28 for the 4-0 lead and ASU has changed goalies, Pashovitz now in pic.twitter.com/H33MIkfkz2
— Penn State Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) November 19, 2016
For the rest of the contest, the Sun Devils couldn't maintain a consistent level of play, as their breakouts were constantly brought to a halt. The Nittany Lions added another goal in the second period, as freshman forward Liam Folkes scored his first career collegiate goal.
Penn State pounded the ASU net on Friday night with 54 shots. On Saturday, they allowed 51 more shots on goal. In contrast, ASU only mustered up 18 shots on Saturday against Penn State sophomore goaltender Chris Funkey.
Denis Smirnov, who had a hat trick on Friday night, added the final tally of the weekend for Penn State to cap off a disappointing effort from ASU.
Special teams has continued to give the Sun Devils fits all season long. They finished the weekend a combined 0-for-5 on the man advantage and were shorthanded 10 times.
"It was unfortunate and it got away from us early," Powers said. "They are tired and I don't want to make excuses for our guys, but Penn State knew we were on the back end of a long trip on short rest. Now we go back home and we got to build them back up and enjoy a four-game home stand and get back on the right track."
ASU returns home next weekend for a two-game series with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe.
Reach the reporter wbdewitt@asu.edu or follow @westondewitt on Twitter
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