Going 9-2 and being ranked No. 11 in the nation would normally be considered a good start to the season for most college teams, especially when that team was 5-5-1 at the beginning of last season.
But the Sun Devil hockey club knows it still has a lot of work to do to finish the season in the top 16 and qualify for a national tournament berth. That work begins tonight when ASU battles the UA Icecats (4-5-1) at the Tucson Convention Center.
"We've got to play a full 60 minutes," head coach Mike De Angelis said. "Hopefully, the intensity of the rivalry will inspire us to concentrate and play a good, simple hockey game."
The puck drops for tonight's game at 7:30. The teams will battle again Saturday night at 7.
The Sun Devils lead the season series 2-0. On Oct. 25 they defeated the Icecats 8-1 in Tucson. The following night they won 4-2. The clubs will face-off four more times during the season after this weekend.
Junior forward Kelsey Johnston said ASU needed to put together a good performance against its archrivals.
"Since they are ranked lower than us, these games can only hurt us," he said. "We need to put up some high numbers."
During the first 11 contests of the season, the Sun Devils have found the net an average of six times each game, while their opponents have averaged only two goals a game. ASU is out shooting its opponents 44-25.
Junior forward Ryan Esner leads ASU with 12 goals. Sophomore forward Ray Corey and freshman forward Joe Ahern have both scored eight goals for the Devils.
Ahern said the key to the UA games was executing on special teams play, an area the team has struggled in throughout the season.
"We've just got to play the way we know we can," he said. "If we convert on special teams it will boost our confidence."
The Sun Devils have been on the power play an average of 5.4 times a game throughout the season, but have only managed to score with the man advantage 20 percent of the time. They have, however, stopped almost 90 percent of their opponent's power play opportunities.
Ahern said the team was ready to improve its play in that critical part of the game.
"We've been working on our power play in practice a lot this week," he said. "We have to bring it to the game."
The Devils will return to the ice Jan. 7-8 to battle the University of Colorado at Oceanside Arena. Face-off for both games is 7:15 p.m.
Reach the reporter at jeremy.a.cluff@asu.edu.