The Sun Devils concluded their first NCAA season in a battle against the US National Team Development Program 18-U team. On senior night at Gila River Arena, ASU was dealt a loss.
The Sun Devils matched up with USNTDP Saturday at Oceanside Ice Arena, which resulted in 21 total power plays and a 2-2 tie.
USNTDP was aggressive in the first period, outshooting ASU 16-8. Forward Kieffer Bellows fired a shot at junior goaltender Robert Levin, lighting the lamp to give his team the 1-0 lead.
Just a few minutes later, freshman forward Jordan Masters was called for the slashing penalty. USNTDP’s Luke Martin was responsible for the first power play goal of the first period. The goal gave his team the 2-0 lead and was his 13th point of the season.
ASU head coach Greg Powers said the early lack of discipline hurt his team.
“We started out on the wrong foot,” he said. “The energy was down for some reason, I think it had to do with three really early and quick penalties… They started with more momentum than we wanted to give them.”
ASU forced its way into the game, trying to get on the board before the first period expired. Graduate forward Liam Norris slapped in the first even-strength goal for Sun Devil hockey, cutting his team's deficit in half.
Less than a minute into the second, USNTDP was back on the board. Scoring his second goal of the night was Bellows, with an assist from defenseman JD Greenway, to give USNTDP the 3-1 lead.
ASU had its opportunities in the second period, going on four power plays with 11 shots, but no goals. Ultimately, ASU was shutout in the second period, and USNTDP went into the final period with a 3-1 lead.
Although ASU was down by two, they fought and kept things interesting. Junior left wing Ryan Ostertag slammed one in at 4:28 in the third period, helping his team cut the lead to just one goal.
Shortly after, defenseman Adam Fox answered back for USNTDP, putting them up 4-2.
The Sun Devils tried to battle back in the last five minutes of the third period, but couldn’t find the net. At 19:15 in the third, USNTDP iced the game with an empty net goal. USNTDP took the 5-2 lead, sealing the fate of the Sun Devils.
Powers said the Sun Devils had their opportunities, but couldn't capitalize.
“We cut it to one in the third, I thought we had some good chances to tie it up,” he said. “ We just could not do it, we just didn’t have the skill to get it done.”
Although the game resulted in a loss, senior forward Liam Norris said the game gave the younger guys confidence moving forward.
“You realize a lot of those guys on that team are going to be drafted and have a shot in the NHL,” Norris said. “The fact that we played right there with them, we had a lot of opportunities to score and the game could have went another way if we would have put some of those goals in.”
Reach the reporter at chaz.frazier@asu.edu or follow @chaz_frazier on Twitter.
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