In its first year in the WCRHL, the Arizona State Sun Devils D-I team has had a tumultuous start to its season. Injuries to 2 of the team's best players, Jeremy VanBuskirk (hand) and Long Duong (wrist), have hampered the Sun Devils' chances of coming out strong 1st-semester.

The team started the season by hosting 7 other D-I schools for a tournament at their home rink of Rollerplex in Peoria, AZ. A broken bone in VanBuskirk's hand stopped him from contributing and the shorthanded Sun Devils finished with a 1-2-1 record that weekend. Bright spots on the weekend included a tie against Long Beach State, one of the WCRHL's best teams, and the fact that both losses that weekend (to UNLV and UC Santa Barbara) were on powerplay goals scored by the opposition in the final 2 minutes of the game.

ASU traveled to Irvine, CA to finish the 1st-semester with a 6-game weekend. Only 4 D-I skaters came to the event for ASU so 2 players from the Sun Devils' B team suited up to help out. In the tournament's opening game against D-I heavyweight UC Irvine, Duong suffered a broken wrist on an awkward collision play less than 30 seconds into the game. ASU was able to overcome that devastating loss to defeat UC Irvine 4-3. The Sun Devils outscored UCI 3-0 even strength that game as all 3 Irvine goals came with the man advantage.

The rest of the weekend was a huge test for the team. With Duong injured, the Sun Devils skated the remaining 5 games of the tournament with only 5 skaters, 3 D-I players and 2 B team players. On the first day, they notched 2 more wins over D-I opponents, shutting out UC Santa Barbara 4-0 and beating Cal Poly SLO 11-7. The only loss of the day came to El Camino College. In that loss, Brian Ganz received 10 penalty minutes in the first 14 minutes and was kicked out of the game. Skating the rest of the game with 4 players, ASU suffered their 3rd loss of the season.

On Sunday, the Sun Devils beat San Diego State 8-4 to improve to 4-0 against D-I opponents for the weekend. That streak would end in the final game of the weekend, however, against Long Beach State. That game was the 6th of the weekend for the Sun Devils' D-I players and for the B team players, skating in both divisions, it was their 11th of the weekend. A well-rested Long Beach team put 55 shots on net to beat Arizona State 6-3. That loss put the Devils at 5-4-1 for the season, placing them 5th overall in the WCRHL.

At the end of one semester of play, defensemen Brian Ganz and Alex Dodt lead the team in scoring. Ganz has 14 goals and 22 points, both marks put him in the top-10 in the WCRHL. Dodt's 10 assists lead the team. Ganz also leads the team in game-winning-goals with 2 and penalty minutes with 24.

The biggest star of the 1st-semester for the Sun Devils was, undoubtedly, the play of freshmen goaltender Clay Taylor. His .867 save percentage was 2nd-best in the WCRHL while his 4.50 goals against was 3rd-best in the league. Most impressively, Taylor's 293 saves in 10 games rank him 1st in the nation. With a team shorthanded in front of him all semester, Clay carried the team frequently and showed why he is the best true-freshman goaltender in the nation.

As the 2nd-semester approaches, the Sun Devils look forward to the return to the lineup of both VanBuskirk and Duong as well as the debut of 2nd-semester transfer Andy Strathman. Duong is expected to be healed and back in time for the WCRHL All-Star weekend Jan. 31-Feb. 1, the 1st tournament of 2nd-semester for ASU. VanBuskirk and Strathman will be in the lineup for the next tournament Feb. 14-15 in Corona, CA.

Having these 3 players in the lineup, healthy, and ready to go 2nd-semester will be a huge step in helping the Sun Devils achieve their goal of a WCRHL regional championship in their 1st season in the league.