(Photo: Gabrielle Mercer/WCSN)
ASU’s hockey team has three goaltenders: Joey Daccord and Ryland Pashovitz have shared time in net this year while Mike DePhillips has been the third-string goalie. Three weekends deep into the season, the Sun Devils have found themselves with a 1-4-1 record with their only victory coming from their opening bout with UMass-Amherst. With a losing record at hand, concerns regarding the strength and trust in the goalies have been amplified.
“That’s the rigors of being a goaltender,” ASU head coach Greg Powers said. “When you make a mistake, everyone’s going to see it. There’s nobody behind you to bail you out. That’s life as a goalie.”
Daccord, a sophomore, has been leading the charge for ASU this year. Daccord comes from Massachusetts and was a seventh-round pick for the Ottawa Senators in the 2015 NHL Draft. Last season he and Pashovitz split playing time with Robert Levin. Pashovitz appeared in 11 games and Daccord played 15.
“I don’t really look at why I’m playing or why I’m not playing,” Daccord said. “I just try to play my best and if I get the call, obviously really excited to play that night and try to give it my best effort.”
“I think the biggest thing they need to improve on is basically their mental side,” ASU volunteer goalie coach Andrew Matheson said. “Playing on a new team, it’s not easy. They’re not exactly walking onto a team that just going to score 10 goals a night. They’re kind of held to a higher standard because they’re the last line of defense.”
Although ASU isn’t even a month into its season, the ASU backstops rank in the bottom tier of college hockey netminders.
DePhillips, meanwhile, has yet to see the ice. He came into a situation in which the other two goalies on the team are strong and established. As a freshman, there is a chance ASU might not see the New Jersey native take the ice.
Matheson says he been improving overall since his arrival in Tempe.
Following a solid debut season saving 88 percent of the shots that went his way, Pashovitz has only played once this season in which the Sun Devils lost 5-1 at Air Force. But Matheson said Pashovitz is in a lot better spot mentally so perhaps fans will see improvement the more he takes the ice.
“What you want out your goaltender is to make the saves that they should make and their both good enough and talented enough that they’re going to make some big saves that maybe they shouldn’t,” Powers said.
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