Travis Reed (6) skates passed Arizona State's Ryan Eaker (14) during a game between UCO and Arizona State at Arctic Edge Arena in Edmond, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012. Photo by Garett Fisbeck, The Vista
The UCO men’s hockey team came into their one-game matchup against Arizona State looking for a win. What they got was the most-penalized match of their season, racking up 89 penalty minutes on the way to a 5-2 drubbing Friday night in front of a raucous crowd at Arctic Edge.
The #15 Bronchos (14-14) rose in the rankings despite a pair of losses to Lindenwood. The #3 Sun Devils (23-4-2) entered on the heels of a pair of wins over Davenport University, playing their third game in four days.
An early goal by freshman forward Corey Allen off a rebound of a shot by senior forward Luke Ward put Central up by one. However, a handful of penalties allowed the Sun Devils to pull even on a 4-3 powerplay goal by Brett Prechel, with assists by Danny McAuliffe and Colin Hekle.
It was a common tune for Arizona State, who scored all five of their goals with one or more Bronchos in the penalty box.
“Undisciplined. It’s the same story: whenever we lose it’s because of undisciplined play,” coach Craig McAlister said. “We can talk about it, but you have to adjust your game to how the referee is calling the game, even if they’re calling it bad. You’ve just got to figure it out.”
After ASU’s Kyle Hughes put the Sun Devils up 2-1 early in the second period, UCO freshman forward Shane Khalaf pulled the Bronchos even on an unassisted goal against ASU netminder Joseph D’Elia.
Later in the period, ASU pulled ahead on a 5-3 powerplay goal by Patrick Rogan, and the Bronchos never recovered.
After the Sun Devils surged further ahead in the third on powerplay goals by Darcy Charrois and Kale Dolinski, the penalty situation for Central began to break down.
Four UCO players and McAlister were ejected with game misconducts within the last five minutes. McAlister, Allen and senior defenseman Nick Novak were ejected after yelling and protesting to officials following Charrois’ goal, which should have been disallowed for high sticking, according to McAlister.
Freshman defenseman Matt Prigge was ejected after drawing a five-minute major penalty for slashing, and leading scorer Donald Geary was ejected after drawing a five-minute major for fighting after trying to fight an ASU player who checked freshman forward Nolan Grauer from behind.
“This is what we talk about, this is what we mean when you’ve got to control yourself.” McAlister said. “On a team like that which lives on the powerplay, you have got to shut that off.”
“We just lost it as a team,” Derek Mussey, sophomore defenseman, said. “We lost our cool about halfway through the third…it kinda just spiraled down from there.”
The Bronchos will be looking to rebound this Friday, Jan. 27, when UCO welcomes the #10 Minot State Beavers to Edmond in their last home series before hitting the road for three straight weeks. Admission for the 7:30 p.m. game is $7, $5 for students and faculty with ID, and free for children under five.
