ASU hockey looked to rebound with authority on Saturday after a tough loss to No. 13 Harvard the previous night, however, things didn't quite go the way they planned.
The Sun Devils dropped the weekend finale of a two game matchup with the Harvard Crimson at Oceanside Ice Arena on Saturday night, 6-2.
Sophomore goaltender Ryland Pashovitz got the start in net for the Sun Devils after freshman goalie Joey Daccord allowed five goals on 24 shots in Friday's loss.
The first 10 minutes of the game went scoreless as both clubs exchanged strong and crisp breakouts, but couldn’t find the back of the net. The Crimson struck first as they took advantage of a penalty two-minute minor from sophomore defenseman Liam McGing and grabbed an early 1-0 lead on the ensuing power-play.
The Sun Devils (1-7-0) committed four penalties in the first period alone. Penalties have hurt the Sun Devils immensely in their first eight games of the 2016-17 season. Coming into Saturday night’s contest, ASU had committed 71 total penalties.
“Our special teams was where we lost the weekend, especially tonight,” ASU head coach Greg Powers said. “They probably had more grade 'A’s' on their penalty-kill than we did on the power-play. We have to get way more organized and sure that up. They (Harvard) dominated the special teams battle.”
An early look at ASU's PK unit: pic.twitter.com/QqpnUHJmDu
— Matt J. Layman (@mattjlayman) October 30, 2016
With 2:21 remaining in the first, Harvard added to the lead when senior forward Luke Esposito put home a rebound to make it 2-0, Crimson. It was evident throughout the first twenty minutes that Harvard (2-0-0) had the edge in the speed and breakout departments.
Harvard continued their scoring ways as the second period got underway. Junior forward Jake Horton tallied his first goal of the season on a broken defensive play that ended with a rocket over the shoulder of Pashovitz.
The rest of the period consisted of missed opportunities by ASU. Just as the Sun Devils were getting ready to start a power-play with seven minutes left in the second, freshman forward Tyler Busch was assessed a two-minute minor for unsportsmanlike contact. According to the referee in his explanation to Powers, profanity was the reason for the call.
It was mistakes like Busch’s that ended up costing ASU on Saturday night.
At the end of the second period, the Sun Devils were outshot 23-16, and outscored 3-0.
Freshman forward Riley Simpson started the third period with optimism for ASU as a quick breakaway off a blocked shot looked like it might shift momentum. But Harvard junior goaltender Marrick Madsen stuck his pad out and denied Simpson of the opportunity.
Madsen, a sixth-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2013 NHL draft, stood on his head throughout the weekend. In two games against ASU, he recorded 51 saves on 52 shots.
Pashovitz, on the other hand, finished the night with 23 saves for ASU.
“I thought he (Pashovitz) played well for 40 minutes, I’ll leave it at that,” Powers said.
Transfer graduate forward Robbie Baillargeon broke up the shutout for the Sun Devils, finally getting one past Madsen at 3:18 of the third period. Baillaregon added another goal for ASU — his fifth tally in four games — but it was too little, too late.
“I think if you bring our third period into next Friday, I think we will come out with a win,” Baillargeon said. “We played really hard tonight, but we just had a couple of breakdowns and unfortunate bounces that went their way.”
Harvard finally put the dagger in at 5:55 of the third period. Senior forward Devin Tringale, one of two Harvard captains, took advantage of a misplayed puck by Pashovitz and put it home. Senior centerman Sean Malone scored his second goal of the night with 2:48 remaining to put the game out of reach.
Despite the second loss of the weekend, Powers said he was happy to see that his team didn't quit.
“I loved our effort here tonight,” he said. “We snapped out of our seven period funk and I thought we were the better team the last period and a half. We played a very good team tonight, certainly not saying we should have beaten them. But I was proud of the way we finished.”
ASU will look to get back on track next weekend as they host one of the nations' most prestigious college hockey programs in the form of No. 11 University of Michigan.
Reach the reporter wbdewitt@asu.edu or follow @westondewitt on Twitter
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