TEMPE, Ariz.- Freshman goaltender Matiss Bars led the Sun Devils to a 4-2 win with a dominant performance in a game filled with scoring and penalties.
Bars denied GCU repeatedly, stopping 47 of 49 shots for a 0.959 save percentage. He remains undefeated at 4-0 early in his college career.
“It's huge, right? … They [the defense] get pucks out, get them deep, and they keep them away from us,” Bars said. “We're good.”
The Lopes dominated puck possession early, keeping ASU pinned in its zone for much of the first five minutes. The Sun Devils struggled offensively, with most of their passes broken up and their forecheck shut down.
Sophomore Aidan Priestley had a great chance five minutes into the game, which was narrowly saved off the glove by GCU’s senior netminder Kyle Northrup.
That chance seemed to spark ASU’s offense. Minutes later, freshman center Jack Haddock opened the scoring off a slick backhand feed from Matt Kimball along the left boards.
GCU would quickly answer back, scoring less than a minute later with a goal from junior forward Braden Olsen. Both teams had late first-period power plays but came up empty, heading into intermission tied 1-1.
The second period shifted after a major penalty to GCU sophomore Alexander Petrotto, who was assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct for a hit on ASU graduate forward Ethan Bellettini.
Arizona State capitalized, scoring twice on the extended power play. Senior winger Jacob Renbarger and sophomore defenseman Ethan Sohmer each found the back of the net, with Kimball picking up his second assist of the night on Renbarger’s goal.
Momentum briefly swung back to GCU when ASU’s Tyler Kowalchuck got ejected from the match for a butt-ending penalty. This gave the Antelopes a five-minute advantage of their own.
But the Sun Devils’ penalty kill held strong, even after a minor penalty to freshman defenseman Dalton Mayes put them down 5-on-3 for two minutes.
“We’ve got to stay poised, " Bars said. “Fill lanes, block shots, we’re good to go.”
Early in the third, GCU’s Brayden Bibby cut the deficit to one with a goal just over a minute in. The Lopes pressed late, pulling their goalie in the final minutes.
But, Bellettini sealed the win for ASU with an empty-netter, a fitting finish for the forward who returned after the earlier hard hit.
With the win, ASU improves to 4-2-1. The Sun Devils are looking to build on their strong start behind Bars, who downplayed his own success after another stellar outing.
“Just have fun, man,” Bars said. “It's hockey, I've been doing it my whole life. It's nothing to stress about.”