STATE COLLEGE, Penn. – After starting the season against new faces at the Division I level, the Arizona State men's hockey team revisits an old foe as they begin a two-game series against No. 10 Penn State on Friday, Nov. 18.
The Nittany Lions (9-1-1) and the Sun Devils (2-9-0) are the last two program's from the ACHA club level to make the jump to NCAA Division I. Penn State elevated their program in 2012, a year in which the two teams met during the Nittany Lions' hybrid season.
"It's kind of odd to think about," said head coach Greg Powers. "The last time we were here we got a monumental win for our club program. Never in a million years did I think the next time I'd be back would be as a Division I program at Arizona State facing their Division I program. It's exciting and great for college hockey that two incredible universities added Division I hockey in such a short period of time between Penn State and ASU."
On that day in December 2012, the ASU club team defeated NCAA Division I Penn State, 3-1. Powers still points to that signature win as one of the first building blocks to where they are today.
In 2016, Penn State is at a point where the Devils strive to be within the first five years of their program – one of the top-ranked teams in the country.
Their ranking of No. 10 in the USCHO Poll and No. 11 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll are both program bests.
The Nittany Lions, led by head coach Guy Gadowsky, are currently on the nation's second-longest unbeaten streak of nine games with wins over Mercyhurst, then-No. 3 Notre Dame, Canisius, Niagara and Alaska-Anchorage.
In their first full NCAA Division I season, Penn State went 8-26-2 while playing six ranked teams. The Devils are scheduled to play a total of 11 ranked teams this season and currently sit at 2-9-0.
"The two programs have gone about growing in different ways," said Powers. "Penn State obviously knew they were going to get into a conference right away being a Big Ten school and having helped with the formation of Big Ten hockey. They also had Pegula Ice Arena in the plans from day one. They've gone about it a little bit differently. We haven't been able to be quite as flexible with our scheduling as they have in their transition. They're in a place geographically where they can easily get on a bus and bring teams in, where we aren't able to do that. Our schedule is a lot more difficult than there's was probably as they ramped up. But again, that's how we want it."
The Devils enter this reborn rivalry coming off one of their best weekend's so far this season. On Saturday, Nov. 12, the boys rallied from a two-goal deficit in hostile territory against New Hampshire to force overtime and capitalize for the win. On just 17 hours of rest, ASU returned to the ice in Chestnut Hill, Mass. for a matinee with No. 3 Boston College. The game remained tied after the first period and was a one-goal game until late in the third.
"We just need to know we can play with anybody," said Powers. "We've been incredibly battle tested to date with all the great teams we've already played. We proved last weekend what we can do on the road against really good competition, so we need to carry that over, build on it and carry it into Penn State."
Sophomore forward Jordan Masters, who led the team in scoring in 2015-16, returned to the ice last weekend and totaled two goals and an assist. On Saturday, freshman defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk recorded his first multi-goal game performance of his college career, including the game winner in overtime.
Senior goaltender Robert Levin also earned his first NCAA Division I victory in the overtime win against UNH, while freshman netminder Joey Daccord compiled 35 saves to keep his squad in the game against one of the top-ranked teams in the country.
Game one against the Nittany Lions starts at 7:00 p.m. ET on Friday night and can be watched online here.
The Nittany Lions (9-1-1) and the Sun Devils (2-9-0) are the last two program's from the ACHA club level to make the jump to NCAA Division I. Penn State elevated their program in 2012, a year in which the two teams met during the Nittany Lions' hybrid season.
"It's kind of odd to think about," said head coach Greg Powers. "The last time we were here we got a monumental win for our club program. Never in a million years did I think the next time I'd be back would be as a Division I program at Arizona State facing their Division I program. It's exciting and great for college hockey that two incredible universities added Division I hockey in such a short period of time between Penn State and ASU."
On that day in December 2012, the ASU club team defeated NCAA Division I Penn State, 3-1. Powers still points to that signature win as one of the first building blocks to where they are today.
In 2016, Penn State is at a point where the Devils strive to be within the first five years of their program – one of the top-ranked teams in the country.
Their ranking of No. 10 in the USCHO Poll and No. 11 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll are both program bests.
The Nittany Lions, led by head coach Guy Gadowsky, are currently on the nation's second-longest unbeaten streak of nine games with wins over Mercyhurst, then-No. 3 Notre Dame, Canisius, Niagara and Alaska-Anchorage.
In their first full NCAA Division I season, Penn State went 8-26-2 while playing six ranked teams. The Devils are scheduled to play a total of 11 ranked teams this season and currently sit at 2-9-0.
"The two programs have gone about growing in different ways," said Powers. "Penn State obviously knew they were going to get into a conference right away being a Big Ten school and having helped with the formation of Big Ten hockey. They also had Pegula Ice Arena in the plans from day one. They've gone about it a little bit differently. We haven't been able to be quite as flexible with our scheduling as they have in their transition. They're in a place geographically where they can easily get on a bus and bring teams in, where we aren't able to do that. Our schedule is a lot more difficult than there's was probably as they ramped up. But again, that's how we want it."
The Devils enter this reborn rivalry coming off one of their best weekend's so far this season. On Saturday, Nov. 12, the boys rallied from a two-goal deficit in hostile territory against New Hampshire to force overtime and capitalize for the win. On just 17 hours of rest, ASU returned to the ice in Chestnut Hill, Mass. for a matinee with No. 3 Boston College. The game remained tied after the first period and was a one-goal game until late in the third.
"We just need to know we can play with anybody," said Powers. "We've been incredibly battle tested to date with all the great teams we've already played. We proved last weekend what we can do on the road against really good competition, so we need to carry that over, build on it and carry it into Penn State."
Sophomore forward Jordan Masters, who led the team in scoring in 2015-16, returned to the ice last weekend and totaled two goals and an assist. On Saturday, freshman defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk recorded his first multi-goal game performance of his college career, including the game winner in overtime.
Senior goaltender Robert Levin also earned his first NCAA Division I victory in the overtime win against UNH, while freshman netminder Joey Daccord compiled 35 saves to keep his squad in the game against one of the top-ranked teams in the country.
Game one against the Nittany Lions starts at 7:00 p.m. ET on Friday night and can be watched online here.