Arizona State beats No. 9 Quinnipiac, completes first top-10 sweep in program history

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Following an emotional, historic upset win over No. 9 Quinnipiac a night ago, Sun Devil Hockey (5-3-0) kept the momentum rolling, recording their first sweep of a top-10 team in program history.

Entering play this weekend, ASU had one win over top-10 opponents in program history and managed to triple that number with a 4-1 victory on Saturday night.

SUN DEVILS WIN!!! 🧹🧹🧹
The first sweep over a Top-10 team in program history! #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/8SOHjDBSX4

— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) November 3, 2019

"That was just a really good 60-minute effort by our guys tonight," said head coach Greg Powers. "That was about as good as we were expecting them to play, and if we play like that, then we are going to win a lot of games, it's just that simple. That's the effort across the board, top to bottom in everyway that we knew we had in us and they brought it out tonight."

The Sun Devils controlled play from the opening puck to the final buzzer, while sophomore goaltender Evan Debrouwer earned his fourth-straight victory between the pipes.

Junior defenseman Jacob Wilson -- who missed these two teams last meeting in the NCAA Tournament due to suspension -- made his presence known with four points on the weekend and a goal and an assist each night. His goal accounted for the eventual game-winner. 

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A night after a rare absence on the scoresheet, junior forward Johnny Walker played an integral role in the win, picking up an assist on the eventual game-winning-goal before potting a goal of his own to extend ASU's lead.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Coming off a hard-fought loss last night, the Bobcats came out aggressive, earning an early power play, but after a successful kill by the Devils, momentum shifted in favor of the Maroon and Gold.
• It was redshirt sophomore Austin Lemieux who kicked off the scoring, depositing a perfect feed from last night's star Logan Jenuwine into the top corner midway through the first stanza.
• Just minutes later, ASU tacked on another one on the rush as James Sanchez found a streaking Jacob Wilson who deflected a feed over the shoulder of the Bobcat netminder to double the Devils' lead.
• Midway through the middle period, Walker finally got the goal he'd been working all weekend for, swatting a rebound out of the air that dribbled behind Petruzzelli for the 3-0 lead.
• After Quinnipiac got one back a few minutes later, the Sun Devils' resiliency reared its head again, this time in the form of 5-foot-8 PJ Marrocco. While on the penalty kill, captain defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk tipped an attempted Bobcat entry pass ahead to Marrocco who blew by the Quinnipiac defense, beating the goaltender, and serving as the brace for ASU.

“Saturday nights are for @TheSunDevils!” 😈🔱 pic.twitter.com/li7qwaWpke

— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) November 3, 2019

• The Devils have swept six of their last seven home series dating back to Oct. 26, 2018.
• Freshman forward Jax Murray made his first collegiate start for the Sun Devils.
• ASU outshot Quinnipiac 38-20, good for a +18 differential, the best mark since Nov. 24, 2018 vs. Nebraska-Omaha.
• One goal allowed is the fewest the Devils have allowed against a ranked opponent.
• The Sun Devil penalty kill was a perfect 6-for-6 on the night, the first time they did so since Jan. 5 vs. Boston College
• ASU scored a short-handed goal for the first time since Feb. 1 at RIT.
• Austin Lemieux scored his first goal since Dec. 15, 2018 vs. Colorado College.

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• "We talked about this before, last night was big but it meant nothing unless we got tonight and we have a ton of respect for that program and I have a ton of respect for Rand, they're really good and they are going to win a lot of games this season too. We wanted to sweep them because they knocked us out of the tournament, one win wasn't going to be enough. The only way to feel whole again was to go out and have the kind of effort we did tonight." -Coach Powers
• "Once we put together the first forty the way we did, we were really good and I would be hard pressed if we have ever played better than that and more complete the way we finished it off and the way we managed the third period I thought was tremendous. It was really good, we limited chances in every way and we made it easy on Evan DeBrouwer and stayed out of the box, it was really impressive what the guys did." -Coach Powers
• "We were really good today, it was everybody and we had balanced scoring this weekend and we wanted our defense to get involved against these guys and they did and when we are running a five-man offense like that every time we are out on the ice, it's tough to stop and it's fun to watch." -Coach Powers