SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 16 Arizona State hockey had a hard-fought battle against the Augustana Vikings, yet the Sun Devils found themselves on the short end of a 4-2 defeat on Saturday, Oct. 17, evening.
The Vikings rallied from an early two-goal deficit, scoring four straight goals to take control.
Coming off a championship run in the Ice Breaker Tournament, beating Notre Dame 5-3 and Alaska-Fairbanks 5-2, ASU had momentum in the first period. Senior forward Cruz Lucius missed a shot wide just 12 seconds after puck drop.
Freshman forward Sam Alfano opened the scoring with his second goal of the season, and just three minutes later, Sun Devils senior forward Bennett Schimek doubled the lead – his second of the year.
ASU dominated the first 10 minutes, controlling the offensive zone.
Yet Augustana responded, as freshman forward Leonid Bulgakov scored on even strength to cut the deficit in half.
Feeding off the energy of a packed house, Augustana came out strong in the second period. Just three minutes in, junior forward Owen Bohn scored for the first time this season, tying the game at two.
However, the Sun Devils still had their foot on the gas even while tied, firing 14 shots in the 17 minutes following Bohn’s goal. Both teams exchanged trips to the penalty box, but neither team was able to capitalize on the man advantage.
The game was tight in the third period. The Sun Devils had five shots in just the opening two minutes of play and added six more during a one-minute stretch from 4:26 to 5:33, but couldn’t get past Vikings junior goaltender Josh Kotai.
Ultimately, midway through the third period, senior forward Ben Troumbly gave the Vikings their first lead of the night and the game’s deciding goal.
In an effort to score, ASU pulled senior goaltender Connor Hasley for the extra skater with three minutes left. Yet with under a minute to play, Augustana senior forward Colton Friesen sealed the win with an empty-netter.
After the game, Vikings head coach Garrett Raboin said the team “needed to come alive” after the first period and credited the comeback to “a team win.”
Augustana improves to 2-1 on the season, while Arizona State falls to 2-3. The two teams meet again Saturday, October 18, with puck drop scheduled for 4:07 p.m. MST.