Ice hockey skates past ASU 4-1, No. 2 in Western Conference

By Claire Howie
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer

The 49er ice hockey team hosted the Arizona State Sun Devils in a double-header last weekend. On Friday night, Long Beach State out played ASU as they cruised to a 4-1 victory.

In Saturday's game, it appeared as though LBSU was a completely different team. The Sun Devils' relentless offense led to a 5-4 loss for the 49ers.

A combination of strong team defense and the nearly flawless goaltending of Mike Bergman (making 32 of 33 possible saves) allowed LBSU to dominate Friday night at Lakewood Glacial Gardens.

49ers' rookies, Andrew Kobzi and Alex Florio each registered a goal and an assist. Kobzi tallied his first goal as a 49er when he recovered a loose puck with 4:43 left in the first period and fired it past Sun Devil goaltender Ryan Till.

Seconds after Kobzi's goal, ASU defenseman Alan Cecanowicz received a holding penalty, giving LBSU a power play opportunity. Forward, Pete Kotowski knocked in a rebound from defenseman Brian Weinstein at 17:00 of the period. After one period the 49ers had a solid 2-0 lead.

During the second period, LBSU peppered Till with shot after shot causing him to lose control of the rebounds. Florio found a loose rebound and knocked it in to tally his second goal of the season. Schneider and Kobzi picked up the assists.

The fourth and final 49ers' goal was scored with just 13 seconds remaining in the second period. During a four-on-four play, Ben Mitchell, assisted by Florio, fired the puck into the net to give LBSU a 4-0 lead going into the final period of play.

ASU's only goal of the game came early in third period when Paul Lonse scored a power play goal off an assist from Ryan McWhirter. Lonse's goal is the only power play goal to score on LBSU's defense.

Friday night's win gave the 49ers' ice hockey team their best start ever at 3-0. Unfortunately that momentum did not carry over to Saturday night for The Beach. All the wrong things happened at the right time to help the Sun Devils to a 5-4 victory over LBSU.

"Arizona State came out harder and more focused than we did. They showed us that they wanted to win more and were willing to work for it,' assistant captain Ryan Feesago said.

Matt Schultz recorded his second assist of the season as he delivered a perfect pass to Gene Schneider who blasted the puck past Wolfe to score the first goal of the game. Just three minutes later, ASU's offense answered with a goal from Kyle Thomas to tie the game. The Sun Devils continued their scoring drive and took the lead on a goal by Paul Peseski.

The scoreboard read 2-1, in favor of ASU, as the second period commenced and for the first time this season, the 49ers trailed their opponent. On the power play, Schultz found a remedy just 29 seconds in when his unassisted slap shot flew by Wolfe to tie the game, 2-2.

The 49ers offense continued to pressure ASU and earned a two-man advantage. Florio found Ben Mitchell who wristed a shot past Wolfe to give the 49ers a 3-2 lead at 10:31 of the period.

During the third period the Sun Devils did an excellent job of keeping traffic in front of Mike Bergman and the 49ers' goal. A continuous flow of shot attempts made it difficult for Bergman to control some rebounds and created the perfect scoring environment for ASU rookie Brandon Bell. Bell recovered a loose puck and sent it past Bergman to tie the game.

Cecanowicz scored an unassisted goal to give the Sun Devils a 4-3 lead going into the last 10 minutes of play. The 49ers did not quit. Drew Farr found Florio to tie the game and with just 7:16 left to play it seemed as though the game would go into overtime.

With 52 seconds remaining, ASU rookie Barrett Wilson scored the game-winning goal. However, according to Bergman, he had a little help from a 49ers' defenseman.

"The goal was actually a cross pass that was deflected into the cage by one of our own defensive players,' Bergman said. "We didn't play how we practiced and it cost us.'

Despite the loss, the 49ers still passed several milestones over the weekend. In each of their four contests this season, LBSU has registered the first goal of the game, a first in 49er ice hockey history.

The 49ers, now ranked second in the Western Conference, travel north to San Jose next weekend where they will face third-ranked San Jose State (2-0) on Friday and Palmer College on Saturday.