Arizona State used a three-goal spurt late in the first period to defeat UAH 5-1 on Saturday and sweep the series between Division I hockey’s Sun Belt teams.

UAH (0-6-0) will still be searching for answers to its struggling offense next weekend at home against Lake Superior State, the first series of WCHA play. The Chargers have scored only three goals through the first six games of the season.

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Arizona State improved to 4-2-0.

Things went awry for the Chargers late in the first period. It started with a power play goal by Tyler Busch, who snuck the puck past Jake Theut from inside the right circle with 1:32 remaining for a 1-0 ASU lead.

Then a deflection by Jake Clifford caused a big bounce that seemed to hogtie Theut and find the back of the net with 55 seconds to go.

Austin Lemieux then put in a rebound from all alone in front of Theut with 13 seconds left. Just like that, in a span of 1:19, UAH found itself down 3-0 at the first intermission.

“It was a tough one,” UAH head coach Mike Corbett said. “We had played well last night, but tonight, when you give up three goals in the last 90 seconds of the first period, it hurts you. They made a good play on the power play goal and the two goals, we made mistakes and they scored.”

In the second period, Dylan Hoffman scored ASU’s fourth goal by roofing the puck over Theut’s shoulder from about the same spot as Busch’s goal.

Jack Jeffers scored his first collegiate goal with 10:06 left in the third to put UAH on the board. He was assisted by Christian Rajic and Jesper Ohrvall, getting his first UAH point after transferring from Rensselaer. But it would be the Chargers’ only goal of the night again.

“We’ve got to be able to take advantage of the opportunities we do get,” Corbett said. “We’ve got to create a little bit more. Our structure’s got to be a little bit better offensively and we’ve got to get guys more reps in that structure so that they know where to go, a little bit more predictable, so guys can make some plays.

“We’ve got guys going to areas where they shouldn’t be going. Guys are looking for them in certain areas and they’re not there. We’ve got to get everybody on the same page right now, that’s our biggest thing.”

ASU regained their four-goal lead almost immediately, however, as Jarrod Gourley scored with 9:16 remaining to make it 5-1.

The game featured a plethora of minor penalties: 14 for Arizona State and 13 for UAH. Each team had eight power plays.

ASU outshot UAH by a 35-26 margin. Sun Devil goaltender Joey Daccord finished with 25 saves in the victory. Theut stopped 30 of 35 shots for UAH.

UAH hosts Lake Superior State next Friday and Saturday. Puck drop is 7:07 p.m. both nights.

“The WCHA schedule starts next week, so we’ve got to focus on that,” Corbett said. “We’ve got to move forward. We’re talking more about attitude. You can look at our record, you can look at some of our stats and all that stuff, our attitude’s got to be great right now.

“These guys care. That’s something maybe I haven’t seen in the past all the time, but we’ve got guys that care. We’ve got good kids, and they know they’ve got work to do. That’s the biggest thing. You’ve got to look at yourself in the mirror and say we’ve got to work on Monday. We’ve got Lake State coming in this week, and we’ve still got two weeks at home, so we’ve got to make the most of it.”

Three stars of the game:
1. Jake Clifford, ASU (1 goal, 1 assist)
2. Joey Daccord, ASU (25 saves)
3. Tyler Busch, ASU (1 goal)

Even with the tough opponents on the road and the questions regarding the offense, it’s hard to imagine a more nightmarish start for the Chargers.

UAH lost to 10th-ranked Denver 6-0 on Saturday, falling to 0-4-0 on the young season.

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The Chargers have now been shut out in three straight games for the second time in program history, and have only scored once in four games. UAH has not scored in 234 minutes and 12 seconds since Austin Beaulieu’s goal in the first period of the season opener last Saturday at Miami.

All UAH can do is reset, keep plugging, and hope home cooking comes in handy next Friday and Saturday against Arizona State at the VBC.

The Chargers were blistered in the shots on goal totals again, 49-16, not including 28 shots they blocked. Jake Theut made 43 saves in his second UAH start in goal.

Denver (2-0-0) wasted next to no time getting on the board. Les Lancaster’s blast from the right point found its way past Theut just 25 seconds into the contest. The Pioneers scored two goals in each period. Denver scored twice on the power play, and Liam Finlay had a hat trick.

The closest UAH came to scoring was in the third period, when Hans Gorowsky thought he had scored with 8:25 to go. The net had come off its mooring, but video review determined the puck did not cross the goal line ahead of time. Gorowsky also had a backhander go off the crossbar late in the second period.

Mark Sinclair had his finest collegiate outing by far, but it wasn’t enough to overcome UAH’s scoring woes.

Sinclair made a career-high 46 saves on 47 Tiger shots in the Chargers’ 1-0 loss at Colorado College on Friday.

UAH (0-3-0), which scored on its first shot in the season opener last Saturday at Miami, hasn’t found the net since in being shut out for a second straight game. It didn’t help that the Chargers again didn’t get nearly as many chances as the Tigers (2-1-0) , who only allowed 18 shots.

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UAH has been kept under 20 shots on goal in all three games. It won’t get any easier Saturday, when the Chargers head to Denver to face the 10th-ranked Pioneers at 8:07 p.m. CDT.

The struggle for puck possession that hurt the Chargers at Miami last week continued into the first period on Friday. Boosted by three power plays, including a full two-minute, two-man advantage about halfway through the period, the Tigers outshot UAH by a whopping 23-5 in the frame.

Sinclair, a sophomore who is still winless in seven career starts, was on point in his second start of the season, however, stopping all 23 pucks. The defensive corps also pitched in with 10 blocked shots. Meanwhile, UAH could only muster 10 shot attempts in the first.

Still, it was a scoreless game, and the Chargers showed some energy in the second period. They had longer sustained moments with the puck, and the shot totals actually went UAH’s way at 10-8.

But Colorado College would the score the lone goal at the 7:26 mark. Christiano Versich took a pass from left wing, one-timed it from the slot and beat Sinclair on the Tigers’ 26th shot on goal.

That would be all the Tigers needed, but not for lack of trying to extend their lead in the third. CC posted another 16 shots on goal for a total of 47.

Sinclair was phenomenal, stopping everything the rest of the way with the body and glove. The best came with 4:51 to go, when Alex Berardinelli redirected a shot on him from point blank and Sinclair pounced.

But UAH could only got three shots in the third on Tiger goalie Alex Leclerc, who finished with 18 saves for his seventh career shutout.

The Chargers were shut out 4-0 on Sunday, completing a dominating season-opening sweep by Miami in Oxford, Ohio.

The RedHawks outshot the Chargers 45-11 and were rarely out of the UAH zone. Miami also had a 37-15 faceoff advantage.

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Goaltender Jake Theut, the transfer from Northeastern making in his first start for UAH, put in a solid effort with 41 saves.

UAH had to deal with the absence of senior captain Kurt Gosselin, who was suspended for one game by the WCHA for his contact to the head of Miami forward Carter Johnson in the second period of Saturday’s game. Johnson was not in the RedHawks lineup Sunday as a precautionary measure.

The Chargers had their best 5-on-5 pressure of the weekend through a good chunk of the first period, but the RedHawks regained control of possession in the final minutes of the period.

Theut kept the game scoreless primarily with his glove. He made nine saves in the first.

The RedHawks continued to press throughout the second period, and netted two goals in the process to lead 2-0. River Rymsha scored from the left point at the 5:39 mark, and then Karch Bachman tipped in a rebound off Theut at 8:23.

Miami put up two more goals in the third period as they outshot the Chargers 23-3. Josh Melnick bounced one off the crossbar with 16:36 to go. With 6:14 left, Ryan Siroky snuck the puck behind Theut on a rebound.

UAH heads to Colorado next for single games against Colorado College on Friday and Denver on Saturday.

UAH dropped its season opener on Saturday, falling 5-1 to Miami in Oxford, Ohio.

Austin Beaulieu scored the lone goal for the Chargers, who will look for adjustments after being outshot 38-18 and allowing eight power plays. Game two of the series is Sunday at 2 p.m. CDT.

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A familiar face was between the pipes for Miami, as Jordan Uhelski, the Chargers’ top netminder the last two seasons, made his first start for the RedHawks as a graduate transfer. It was the first time UAH faced a former Charger.

Uhelski stopped 17 of 18 shots as Miami starts the season 1-0-0.

After a few minutes of feeling each other out, three goals were scored in short order.

Miami started the scoring with a goal at 4:48, as Carter Johnson took the puck down the right side and beat UAH sophomore goaltender Mark Sinclair, who made a career-high 33 saves.

The Chargers responded 60 seconds later. Beaulieu scored UAH’s first goal of the season with a right-wing blast by Uhelski, assisted by Cam Knight and Kurt Gosselin.

The RedHawks regained the lead at 6:30, as Karch Bachman capitalized on a Charger turnover, slipping the puck past an extended Sinclair.

Most of the action was in the Charger end, compounded by three UAH penalties. However, all three were killed to keep UAH in the game after one period.

Things got desperate for UAH early in the second period. Three minutes in, Johnson had a breakaway opportunity for Miami, and Gosselin in pursuit laid a hard hit to Johnson’s head with his shoulder. Gosselin was assessed a game misconduct penalty as Johnson needed a few moments to get up.

Update (11 a.m. 10/7/18): Gosselin has been suspended one game by the WCHA for the contact to the head penalty. He’ll miss Sunday’s game against Miami.

The RedHawks went up 3-1 on the ensuing major power play when Gordie Green put in a rebound at the 4:42 mark.

The Chargers withstood the rest of the penalty, and finally got their first power play. UAH was able to put some pressure on Uhelski in the second period, getting 10 shots on goal, but couldn’t put a dent in the deficit.

UAH couldn’t convert a power play early in the third period, finishing 0-for-2 with the advantage for the night. The Chargers could only muster four shots on goal in the final frame.

With 9:46 remaining, the RedHawks put the game away at 4-1 with a right-point blast by Derek Daschke. Miami added a Grant Hutton goal with 3:06 to go for the final 5-1 score.