(Photo:Allyson Cummings/WCSN)
The Sun Devils ended their final performance at Oceanside Ice Arena in a 7-2 victory over the Wildcats.
After a warm welcome to a chilly Senior Night, the Arizona Wildcats hadn’t even had a chance to get their defense settled before the Sun Devils struck on a shot by Eric Rivard, assisted by David Norris and Gianni Mangone.
“I really like playing with them,” Rivard said. “They already have a built-in chemistry.”
Younger brother David Norris notched his first hat trick as a Sun Devil, scoring his first goal with 9:27 left in the first period to give the Sun Devils a 2-0 lead to end the period.
He then notched his second and third within six seconds at the beginning of the second with both assists from older brother Liam. On the brothers’ second time playing on a line together, they had a total of six points.
“I don’t know, it works so far,” Liam said of playing with his brother. “He kind of plays the way I do but scores a bit more than I can. We’re having fun with it and it’s just clicking.”
Kory Chisholm knocked in a backhand shot with 17:28 left in the second period with assists from Jared Morris and Mak Barden, causing Arizona to take their timeout. Coach Powers then took out sophomore goalie Robert Levin in favor of Lucas Felbel.
“It was just an opportunity to get Lucas some playing time,” Coach Powers said. “Rob’s had a heck of a stretch with a lot of hockey, so it was just getting him some rest.”
There were a few big hits before Connor Mailey found the puck from Kyle Bowen and put it in the back of the net to put ASU up 6-0.
After a call on Alex Temby for interference, the Wildcats capitalized on the man advantage with a power-play goal by Jake Campbell with assists by Alex O’Dea and Dylan Carter, making the score 6-1 Sun Devils.
Arizona’s Shane Gleason knocked in a shot off a deflection by Kyle Bowen to end the second and pull the Wildcats within four.
The third period began with a lot of back and forth play but halfway through the third, Coda Engbar scored his first goal of the season with assists from Rivard and Drew Newmeyer. His goal extended the lead, 7-2.
Even though there would be no more scoring from either team, Liam Norris spent his last thirty seconds of his final home game on the bench after a two minute unsportsmanlike penalty and 10 minute misconduct.
“It’s kind of whatever I guess,” Liam said. “I blew it a bit, I should have held my composure.”
Coach Powers reiterated that they didn’t play a full, perfect game, but they still played hard for the full 60 minutes.
“It was a good weekend, we have guys out hurt and top guys in Spain and we beat our archrival 14-2 on the weekend”, Coach Powers said. “There’s nothing to complain about. Sending these guys out the right way at home was what this weekend was all about and we did it.”
On Faiz Khan and Liam Norris’s last home game as Sun Devils, they’re both looking forward to their upcoming games and winning another national championship.
“There’s no other option than winning, you win it and you wanna win it again,” Khan said. “Anything less is unacceptable.”
Game notes:
-Jared Levos will receive X-rays this week and they’ll evaluate his availability for their series next weekend against Colorado and Colorado State.
-Chris Blessing filled in as a defenseman and may play on the blue line next weekend.
