TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State finally made Liam Choquette work Friday night. The Sun Devils nearly doubled their shot total from the opener, put 30 shots on net and still came away empty as Choquette earned his first shutout with the Skatin’ Rebels in a 3-0 win at Mountain America Community Iceplex. UNLV completed the opening-weekend sweep after beating Arizona State 5-1 Thursday. Choquette played all 120 minutes in Tempe and stopped 46 of 47 shots, with Friday providing a much different test than the 17-shot night he saw in his debut.
The Rebels gave him an early lead again. Mason Kelly scored 3:42 into the first period off an assist from Easton Edwards, putting UNLV ahead 1-0 before Arizona State had a chance to settle into the game. Edwards had not dressed Thursday, but he needed less than four minutes in his first appearance to record a point. Simon Nealy also entered the lineup after sitting out the opener, while Hayden Siegel and Ryan Winklebleck were not among the skaters dressed for Game 2.
The Sun Devils stayed much closer than they had the night before. UNLV had outshot Arizona State 16-7 in the opening period Thursday and scored twice before eight minutes had passed, but Friday’s first period ended with the Rebels holding only an 11-9 edge in shots. Arizona State also received its first power play when Kelly was called for roughing at 8:32. The Sun Devils could not score, extending a power-play drought that had started with five unsuccessful opportunities in Game 1.
They got another chance early in the second period when UNLV was called for too many men at 2:04. Edwards served the bench minor, stepped out of the box when the penalty expired at 4:04 and scored 10 seconds later off a pass from Bryce Johnson to make it 2-0. Edwards had gone from outside the lineup Thursday to two points before Friday’s game reached the midway point. He assisted on Kelly’s opening goal and then scored his first with the Skatin’ Rebels immediately after serving the penalty.
Arizona State kept coming after the second goal. The Sun Devils put 12 shots on Choquette during the period, their highest total in any period of the weekend, and had already surpassed their entire Game 1 shot total before the second intermission. Choquette stopped every one of them. The Rebels gave him another goal late in the period. Jack Cristiano was called for roughing at 15:19, and Luke Backel scored on the power play at 16:36 from Johnson and Gaige Giblin to stretch the lead to 3-0.
Johnson finished the period with two assists, while Giblin recorded his first point of the season. Backel’s goal gave him three points through two games after he assisted twice in Thursday’s opener. Backel and Oliver Band leave Tempe tied for the team lead with three points. Band scored twice and added an assist in Game 1, while Johnson and Deven Nagra sit behind them with two points apiece.
The Rebels have not needed the same group to carry the offense from one night to the next. Band was the only UNLV player to score more than once over the weekend, with Kelly, Edwards, Backel, Ryder McIntosh, Luke Baker and Shaun Rios accounting for the other six goals. Seven different Rebels scored UNLV’s eight goals in the series. Arizona State made a change in net Friday after Hayden Manning faced 52 shots and made 47 saves in the opener.
Alexander Wendt started the rematch and stopped 36 of 39, including all 14 shots he faced in a scoreless third period. UNLV finished with 39 shots Friday after putting 52 on Manning Thursday. The Sun Devils went the other way, increasing their total from 17 to 30 after struggling to generate much against the Rebels in Game 1. The third period never changed the score. Wendt kept UNLV from adding to the lead, while Choquette stopped all nine Arizona State shots to finish the shutout.
The Sun Devils also spent much of the period killing penalties. Jake King was called for boarding at 6:06, Alek Leonelli for tripping at 11:48 and Trevor Kennedy for high sticking at 16:09. UNLV did not score on any of the three opportunities and finished 1-for-4 on the power play for the second straight game. The Rebels went 2-for-8 with the extra skater over the weekend, with Band scoring Thursday’s power-play goal and Backel getting Friday’s.
Arizona State never found one of its own. The Sun Devils went 0-for-4 Friday after finishing 0-for-5 Thursday, leaving UNLV’s penalty kill perfect on all nine opportunities in the series. The Rebels also spent less time in the box than they had in Game 1. UNLV went from eight infractions and 24 penalty minutes Thursday to four infractions and eight minutes Friday, and only two of those penalties came before the final 2:32.
Kelly’s roughing penalty in the first and the too-many-men call early in the second were the only penalties Arizona State had to work with for most of the game. Zach Boren was called for unsportsmanlike conduct with 2:32 remaining, and Mario DiMaggio went off for cross-checking with 43 seconds left. The Sun Devils had two late opportunities to spoil the shutout. Choquette finished it anyway.
He made nine saves in the first period, 12 in the second and nine in the third. Jimmy Mologousis and Owen Zenone dressed for both games but did not play, leaving Choquette with every regular-season minute in net through the first weekend. UNLV entered the season without an established replacement for Douglas Wakelyn. Zenone returned from last year, while Choquette arrived from Nichols College and Mologousis came to the Rebels after playing in the NCDC.
Vignieri-Greener could have split the opening series between two goaltenders. Instead, Choquette started Thursday, went right back into the net Friday and left Arizona with two wins, one shutout and one goal allowed. Friday also gave the Rebels a better look at him than the opener had. Arizona State managed only 17 shots Thursday while UNLV spent long stretches at the other end of the rink, but the Sun Devils put 21 shots on Choquette over the final two periods Friday and 30 in the game. None went in.
The offense changed around him as well. Band, McIntosh, Baker and Rios scored in the opener, while Kelly, Edwards and Backel supplied the goals Friday. Johnson went without a point Thursday before assisting twice in Game 2, and Edwards produced two points after not dressing in the opener. The two games were not played the same way. Arizona State stayed closer Friday, generated more offense and got another strong performance in net from Wendt after Manning faced 52 shots Thursday.
The result was the same. The Skatin’ Rebels leave Tempe 2-0 after outscoring the Sun Devils 8-1, and Choquette leaves having played every minute of it.e assisting twice in Game 2, and Edwards produced two points after not dressing in the opener.
The two games were not played the same way. Arizona State stayed closer Friday, generated more offense and got another strong performance in net from Wendt after Manning faced 52 shots Thursday.
The result was the same.
The Skatin’ Rebels leave Tempe 2-0 after outscoring the Sun Devils 8-1, and Choquette leaves having played every minute of it.
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