January 11, 2012
WCRHL Division I - 1st Semester Recap - 5th and 6th place teams
Arizona State is currently fifth in the WCRHL, but only 2 points out of second place.
This has been somewhat of a transition year for ASU after losing the 2010-1 WCRHL leading goal scorer Brian Ganz and key players Tyler Koressel and Derek
Bolls. Senior defenseman Alex Dodt has shown his experience with a team-leading
17 points. ASU has lost a couple close games including a 3-4 loss to Cal Poly and a
4-6 loss to UCSB. ASU has a perfect 2-0 record against new in-state rival University
of Arizona.
The ASU powerplay hasn’t been too efficient this year, only scoring on
21.7% (5/23) of their powerplay chances. They have also struggled on the penalty kill, only killing 52.6% (10/19) of their penalties. If ASU can improve on their
special teams, they could start to win more of their close games. ASU is likely to be
a competitive team in the second semester with several players joining the team,
including former WCRHL All-Stars Will Heinze and Clay Taylor.
The University of Arizona squad is currently winless and sitting at sixth in the division. As we saw from WCRHL team’s performance at the 2011 nationals, the WCRHL is an extremely competitive division, which makes it hard for first year teams to be successful. A high point for Arizona is they have a roster loaded with underclassmen that can help develop the program. Arizona has had a few close losses, including a 4-6 loss to a hot UNLV team and two home losses to ASU. The Arizona squad has not been effective with their special team play only scoring on 17.4% (4/23) of their powerplays and only killing 50% (18/36) of their penalties.
The University of Arizona squad is currently winless and sitting at sixth in the division. As we saw from WCRHL team’s performance at the 2011 nationals, the WCRHL is an extremely competitive division, which makes it hard for first year teams to be successful. A high point for Arizona is they have a roster loaded with underclassmen that can help develop the program. Arizona has had a few close losses, including a 4-6 loss to a hot UNLV team and two home losses to ASU. The Arizona squad has not been effective with their special team play only scoring on 17.4% (4/23) of their powerplays and only killing 50% (18/36) of their penalties.
A big key for Arizona to have success in the second semester will be staying out of the
penalty box. They have the most penalty minutes in the league, largely because of
their physical ice hockey style of play. Arizona needs to adjust their game a little bit
to conform to the roller style and start capitalizing on their powerplays if they want
to compete in the second semester.