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Next week, House of Sparky will begin our "#SunDevilMoments" tournament, featuring the 16 best moments from the athletic season. This week we will introduce all 16 seeds, then reveal our match-ups where you, the reader, will vote on what was the ASU athletics Moment of the Year.
It was a season full of firsts for the Arizona State hockey team. The Sun Devils, playing a hybrid schedule in 2015-2016 filled with ACHA teams along with Division I programs, played some of the top hockey teams in the nation including Quinnipiac, Wisconsin and Yale.
One of the shining moment for ASU during their first season as a Division I hockey program came on October 10, 2015, when the Sun Devils picked up their first victory as a Division I program in just their second game of the season.
After demolishing the Arizona Wildcats, ASU took a trip north for two games in Alaska. After losing the first game in overtime to Alaska Anchorage, the Sun Devils took down Alaska Fairbanks 2-1 for their first official victory as a Division I program (ACHA games counted as exhibitions).
Like with many games this season for the ASU hockey team, their victory over Fairbanks was filled with drama. The game was seemingly headed to overtime, with the two teams tied at one with less than a minute to play.
That was when Ryan Belonger took a pass from Jordan Masters and put the puck between the pipes on a breakaway with 34 seconds on the clock to give ASU a 2-1 lead.
The Sun Devils trailed 1-0 after the first period and tied the game up at the 1:13 mark of the second period on a goal by senior forward Garrett Peterson.
Freshman goaltender Ryland Pashovitz saved 37 shots for the Sun Devils in the victory.