ASU’s five-goal win came from depth and relentless pressure, which overwhelmed the Buccaneers, who came to Tempe with only six skaters. 

“Tire them out, wear them out, keep our legs fresh while they’re getting drained,” center Liam Keohane said. 

ASU got the lead early with an easy put-in from forward Cole Allison, assisted by defender Andrew Morgan.

Park University wasted no time getting back its own goal when forward Victor Deraja had a tap-in after receiving a great pass from center Matthew Gaglaim.

The Sun Devils kept the puck near the trapezoid early, hoping to catch the Buccaneers' goalie, Aaron Mittendorf, off guard.

Forward Jack Mears looked to keep the pressure on the other side, trying to find an open teammate in Gaglaim, but ASU’s defense held strong to deny anything.

Park University right defender Beckket Ziegler committed a tripping penalty with just over 10 minutes left that led to a Sun Devils power play. 

Quality defense from the undermanned Buccaneers, paired with a strong offensive push from Ziegler, led to a score from Gaglaim to give Park University the lead.

ASU wasted no time coming back with a score when Keohane scored assited by left winger Keegan Wetterberg, with 7:10 left in the first.

The Sun Devils scored soon after, when Allison made his way through Park University's defense with help from forward Jason Horner to get the lead back to the Sun Devils with 4:47 left in the first.

ASU’s continuous pressure was evident through their 27 shots on net compared to Parks eight in the first period.

The Sun Devils scored on a rebound from Morgan with 14:01 left in the second period. And then left defender Dylan Wendt scored again with 10:07 left to extend ASU’s lead to three.

The Sun Devils forward Kade Gramlich slid a shot past Park University defenders with the help of forward Zac Yurkanin to increase the cushion to four goals. 

Arizona State dominated puck pressure the entirety of the second period, with 39 more shots on net than Park.

The Buccaneers struggled to apply pressure, putting up only two shots on net the whole period.

“Going into the second It got personal to us; we knew it was an important one to win,” Keohane said.

ASU skated by to go into the third period with a comfortable lead. 

Allison skated by all of the Buccaneers defenders and, from behind the goal, found his teammate defender Robert Zettler for an easy shot to bring the Sun Devils total to seven.

Nearing the end of the game, the Buccaneers Gagliano scored with the assist from Baraja, cutting the lead to four.

ASU maintained the four-goal lead just 30 seconds later after Wetterburg put it in from the left side.

The Sun Devils put up 94 shots on goal throughout the game, compared to Park University's 18.

“We wanted to hit triple digits on the scoreboard,” Keohane said.