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Wisconsin hockey dominated No. 9 Arizona State 6-2 Saturday night in Madison, completing a weekend sweep.

ASU finished the regular season with a 22-11-3 record and now must wait until March 22 to find out if it will be selected for a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance. NCAA regional play is March 27-29.

The Sun Devils fell behind 5-0 Saturday before finally scoring late in the second period. They also lost 7-6 at Wisconsin on Friday. 

In 2019, ASU lost its last two regular-season games at Minnesota but still made the postseason for the first time in its varsity history.

“I don’t feel like we ever game ourselves a chance,” ASU coach Greg Power said. “Couple turnovers by people that can’t make them, couple bad goals down below the goal line. We found ourselves down early and just couldn’t climb out of it.

“It was one of those nights. Last night was our night – I felt like we could have won that game and maybe should have in some regards – but tonight they were the better team and were better in every facet of the game.”

ASU’s Jacob Semik was penalized for leaving the bench and Tyler Busch and Willie Knierim received game misconduct penalties for contact to the head.

Wisconsin’s Max Zimmer scored two power play goals. The Badgers improved to 13-18-1 on a weekend honoring the school’s 1990 NCAA championship and other elite teams in their anniversary year. 

Steenn Pasichnuk and Jack Judson, on a power play, scored for ASU.

Wisconsin hockey edges No. 9 Arizona State, ending Sun Devils’ win streak

Roman Ahcan completed a hat trick late in the third period Friday night as Wisconsin hockey edged No. 9 Arizona State 7-6 in Madison.

Ahcan scored twice late in the first period then against at 18:51 of the third, his 13th goal of the season.

ASU’s seven-game win streak ended despite four-point production from Johnny Walker and James Sanchez. Sanchez now has 40 points, most in ASU’s NCAA history and fifth-most 5 nationally this season.

Wisconsin led 4-2 before consecutive ASU goals by Jordan Sandhu, Walker and Gvido Jansons. The Badgers went back ahead 6-5. Brinson Pasichnuk’s power play goal at 12:22 in the third brought the Sun Devils even before Ahcan’s game winner.

“That was fun hockey,” Ahcan said. “We were talking on the bench with about five minutes to go and everyone was up and down with their emotions. Thirteen goals in hockey, that’s fun hockey. When we lost that two-goal lead, I was proud with how we responded and got back on the horse and started playing our hockey.”

ASU dropped to 22-10-3 while Wisconsin improved to 12-18-1.

“We pride ourselves on being a little harder to play against defensively than we were tonight,” ASU coach Greg Powers said. “Just simple stuff, guys not picking up weakside guys on entry, guys not getting simple block outs, so mistakes that some guys made that aren’t characteristic of the ones that they make. We had some positives too. Everyone knows how good that team is. It was a fun hockey game to watch and good for the fans.”

The teams play again Saturday in ASU’s regular season finale. The Sun Devils are tied for No. 11 in Pairwise rankings through Friday and seeking to secure a second straight NCAA Tournament bid.

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-8053. Follow him on Twitter @jeffmetcalfe.

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