TEMPE, Ariz. – The Arizona State Sun Devils completed the weekend sweep over the Alaska Nanooks hockey team on Sunday afternoon, defeating the Nooks 5-0 in a nonconference matchup at the Oceanside Ice Arena.
The loss drops Alaska's overall record to 0-2-0, while Arizona State improves to 2-0-0 for the first time in program history.
"I'm very disappointed by how we performed this weekend," first-year head coach
Erik Largen said on Sunday. "Arizona State earned their opportunities tonight. Our bright spot from these past two games was our goaltending. We need to make sure that we are ready to work in practice next week and be prepared to face a very good St. Cloud team."
Arizona State scored three goals in the first period, starting with a power play tally by Tyler Busch at the 10:07 mark. Forty-three seconds later, ASU's Jacob Wilson made it a 2-0 game with an even-strength goal before PJ Marrocco netted another even-strength goal at the 19:18 mark to make it 3-0 in favor of the home team.
After a scoreless second period, a pair of Alaska turnovers caused two back-to-back goals for the Sun Devils, courtesy of Brinson Pasichnuk (7:39) and Johnny Walker (8:26) to make it 5-0.
Alaska was outshot by their opponent 32-13, with junior goaltender
Anton Martinsson earning five saves in the first period before freshman Gustavs Grigals registered 22 saves throughout the remaining two periods in his collegiate debut.
On the other end of the ice, ASU's Joey Daccord collected 13 saves through 60 minutes.
Alaska went 0-for-5 on the man-advantage and 5-for-6 on the penalty kill, as ASU went 1-for-6 on the power play.
The Alaska Nanooks hockey team returns to Fairbanks for their home-opener next week, hosting the No. 6/4 St. Cloud State University Huskies in a two-game nonconference series at the Carlson Center. The Nooks will take on SCSU next Friday, Oct. 12 and Saturday, Oct. 13 with puck-drop for both nights scheduled for 7:07pm AKT.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks Hockey team, follow @NanooksHockey on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Hockey team page on Facebook.
