No. 20 ASU hockey was swept by Penn State this past weekend, losing 3-2 on Friday and 5-4 on Sunday, both of which occurred in overtime.
Friday
The Nittany Lions got on the board first Friday, scoring 8:28 into the game on a power-play goal from senior forward Alex Limoges.
Penn State came back with a second goal from graduate forward Tim Doherty, who assisted on the first, with under two minutes remaining in the first period to double its lead.
The Sun Devils responded later in the game with two consecutive goals of their own, from senior forward Willie Knierim at the 13:28 mark of the second period and from senior forward Sean Dhooghe at the 3:08 mark of the third period to tie the game.
Dhooghe's score, his first point of the season, sent the game into overtime at two goals apiece.
"(Dhooghe) had some glorious chances before that," head coach Greg Powers said. "He buried that one, so the monkey is off his back, and I think he'll get going."
In overtime, Penn State sophomore forward Connor MacEachern scored on ASU junior goaltender Evan DeBrouwer with just over a minute left in the game to net the Nittany Lions their second win of the 2020-21 season.
"I thought up until the last 10 minutes, it was a really well-played game and could've gone either way," Powers said.
DeBrouwer finished the game with 47 saves on 50 shots faced, who said "it was definitely my best game of the year as far as controlling rebounds" despite the loss.
ASU failed to score on four power-play opportunities in the game.
"It's obviously not ideal," Powers said. "You get four power plays on the road and you don't put it in, guys aren't getting the job done for us. It's frustrating, but it is what it is."
Sunday
ASU (3-6-1) exploded in the first period of Sunday's game after having a day of rest in between the two games, scoring three goals within the initial five minutes of the first period.
Sophomore forward Jax Murray opened the scoring with a goal at 3:05 into the period, which was followed by a score from freshman forward Benji Eckerle just 24 seconds later. Senior forward James Sanchez added another goal 45 seconds after Eckerle's to give ASU a 3-0 lead.
Penn State (3-5) got on the board on a wraparound from freshman forward Christian Sarlo 5:20 into the first to cut ASU's lead to two goals.
Knierim scored on an ASU power play to increase its lead back to three, but Limoges scored on a two-on-one with 2:33 left in the first period to bring the score to 4-2.
"We put together good shifts here and there, but we have to put together a full 60 (minutes)," Knierim said.
Penn State junior forward Aarne Talvitie scored 11 seconds into the second period to bring his team within one goal of ASU's lead.
Limoges scored the game-tying goal a little over four minutes later on a power play that resulted from a too many men on the ice penalty from ASU.
"When you jump out to a lead like that, you can't turn the puck over," Powers said. "When you have seniors make those mistakes, it is what it is. It's unexplainable some of the mental errors that were made."
Despite several quality chances for both teams, no goals were scored in the third period, forcing an overtime period for the second consecutive game.
Penn State sophomore forward Connor McMenamin scored 1:28 into the overtime period to give ASU its third loss in a row.
"We knew this was going to be a grind, but (we) are here for it," Knierim said after the loss. "We have to clean up a few things this week and give it our all (the last week) before the break."
ASU will travel to Columbus, Ohio, to play Ohio State Dec. 17 and 18 in what may be its last series of the calendar year. ASU and the Big Ten have yet to release the remaining portion of the 2020-21 schedule.
"We did everything but finish," Powers said. "I thought we were the better team ... we can't let those games break us and we won't."
Reach the reporter at aklatsky@asu.edu and follow @averyklatsky on Twitter.
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