No. 8 Arizona Hockey wins Cactus Cup with win over ASU

TUCSON, AZ- In front of a good-sized crowd at the TCC, the No. 8 Arizona Hockey team won the Cactus Cup after beating rival ASU Sun Devils 4-0.

After a rare, snowy and blustery day in Tucson, it seemed like a perfect day for some Arizona Hockey. While it’s been a great season thus far for the Cats, now isn’t the time to let up.

As it stands, Arizona is up to No. 8 in the rankings, hasn’t lost to ASU, and have a great chance to win the Western Collegiate Hockey League with just three games to play.

Arizona Wildcats

Well, on Friday evening, in front and energized crowd at the Tucson Convention Center, the Wildcats took to the ice hoping to secure the Cactus Cup.

From the start, it was all business as soon as the puck dropped.

In a bit of a stalemate for the first few minutes of the game, the Wildcats finally got things going, when defense man Manny Rowe went straight through the ASU defense to get a great shot that zipped past the ASU goalie to make it 1-0.

Not long after that, the Wildcats would strike again when Kyle Wade would crash the net for Arizona, putting the deflected puck past the Sun Devil keeper to give the Cats the 2-0 lead.

With not much doing for the rest of the first period, the Wildcats would get to the first intermission with the 2-0 lead.

Hoping to continue their momentum in the second period, the Wildcats would stay aggressive, but unfortunately not much would come to fruition for either team, as both ASU and Arizona would exchange shots with no avail.

Still leading 2-0 to enter the third, the Wildcats would take to the third and final period, still in complete control.

Finally, after a bit of a scoring drought, the Cats would get on the board again, making it 3-0. Not long after that, the Wildcats would score again, getting their fourth and final goal to essentially put this thing away for good!

With the 4-0 win, the Wildcats improve to 26-7 on the year and clinch the Cactus Cup (the annual series between Arizona and ASU).

The Wildcats are also just one league game win away from winning their first Western Collegiate Hockey League championship. The games this weekend aren’t WCHL contests, but the Wildcats will have an opportunity to claim the championship should they beat ASU next weekend!

At Zona Zealots, we are proud of the way the Cats battled last night and hope they can continue their winning ways when they return to the ice for their final home game on Sunday afternoon! Bear Down, Arizona!