ASU Starts Rivalry Weekend off on the Right Foot

Justin Gaither- WCSN

TEMPE, Ariz.— In a night that can be summarized by physicality which resulted in 14 combined

penalties, the Arizona State Sun Devil D1 ACHA hockey team got their fifth win of the season

over the in-state rival Arizona Wildcats.

After jumping off to what head coach Josh Brown described as a slow start, the Sun Devils put

up four goals on veteran goalie Garrett Patrick to edge the Wildcats 4-2.

Senior captain Ryan Ostertag continued what has become routine in the winning effort as he

scored what would wind up being the game-winning- goal with 2:58 remaining in the second

period.

“The reason that went in is because my brother [Dylan Ostertag] took away the goalie’s eyes

there,” Ostertag said. “I just saw all net, the goalie I could tell couldn’t see anything, so I kinda

just put it where it was open.”

The Ostertag brothers scored one goal each which coach Brown said is a huge for their

confidence.

“Just trying to grow with each other every day, to get better in practice and I think tonight it

was a little evident with passing,” Ostertag said.

Other than the Ostertag brothers’ productive night, the Sun Devils offense seemed to capitalize

whenever the Wildcats made a mistake. Veteran forward Michael Cummings netted his fourth

goal of the season on a breakaway opportunity created by a Wildcat turnover.

“Once I saw that the pass across was taken away, I just tried my best to find a hole and it went

in,” Cummings said describing his goal. In addition, Cummings made sure to give credit to his

line mate Austin Ehrlich, credited with the assist, for making a stellar pass which set the whole

play up.

When asked how he sees his role on the team, Cummings quickly pointed out his instantaneous

chemistry with line mates Austin Ehrlich and Wilson Housley.

“I know McNeely played with them last year,” Cummings said referencing former ASU D2 ACHA

hockey star Ryan McNeely, “and I’m happy to fill in that spot.”

The line of Housley, Cummings and Ehrlich have combined for 14 points so far through the

season’s first six games.

Switching the focus to what has possibly been the best part of this Sun Devil team, defenseman

Zachary Kowalchuk spoke highly of goalie Lucas Felbel’s performance in net tonight.

“He’s [Felbel] a rock in net,” Kowalchuck said. “He’s a great guy and he really comes up big

when we need him to and he hasn’t failed us yet.”

The Sun Devils have only allowed 12 goals this season, while scoring 22, giving the team a plus

10 goal differential through six games.

After a somewhat sloppy game tonight, both teams will look to clean up their play on both ends

tomorrow with game two of rivalry weekend in Tempe, puck drop scheduled for 7:00 pm Pacific

time.

When asked in closing what the rivalry means to him, Michael Cummings expressed his

emphatic disdain for the Wildcats saying, “I don’t think I’ve ever been more upset than the one

game I lost to them.”

He added when asked if he even respects the University of Arizona’s team, “they’ve beaten us

one time in seven years, what’s there to respect?”