Aztecs face off season with sweep by Sun Devils

Three of the newest San Diego State University Aztec ice men made their debut in last weekend’s two-game ACHA Division I series against the Arizona State University Sun Devils: freshmen forwards Brogan Bjarnason and Daniel Zlochevsky and freshman defenseman Cameron Stangl.

Bjarnason scored SDSU’s lone goal in Friday’s season opening 8-1 loss to ASU while Stangl also got into the lineup.  Zlochevsky made his season debut in Saturday’s return matchup, a much closer 3-0 setback.

Bjarnason is from Vancouver, Canada, while Stangl (Santa Clarita) and Zlochevsky (Redwood City) are both California natives.

Bjarnason and  Zlochevsky both played Junior hockey before donning Aztec uniforms.

All three SDSU newcomers were visibly active in the action, particularly Zlochevsky in Saturday’s game.

The trio drew positive reviews from Aztecs bench boss Dean Wilson.

“Quite honestly, they played above and beyond expectation,” Wilson said. 

Both games were played in front of standing-room only crowds at the Kroc Center (455 for the opener). Admittedly, the adrenaline might have been pumping a bit higher than usual while wanting to impress the fans. But playing in “beast mode” had its drawbacks.

 ASU, one of the Aztecs’ former foes in the ACHA’s top-notch Western Collegiate Hockey League, took a 1-0 lead with a power play goal 3:45 into the game and doubled that margin to 2-0 with a second goal at 9:16 of the opening period.

Brody Hsiao stated between the pipes for SDSU. Lucas Dyer scored both goals for Arizona State. Kelton Chadwick and Sheldon Wilson assisted on the first goal while Wilson supplied the assist on the second goal. 

The first period was highly competitive with the Sun Devils holding a 17-13 advantage in shots. Hsiao was rock solid with 15 saves while the hosts logged two power play opportunities.

But the second period unraveled a bit with four more ASU goals as the Sun Devils built an insurmountable 6-0 lead with a 21-8 edge in shots in the middle stanza.

The Arizona visitors made it 3-0 on a goal by Arthur Devillers, assisted by Connor Squeri and Calahan Butler at at 6:01. Dyer scored his hat trick goal at 7:55, assisted by Kyle Roepcke and Wilson.

The goals kept coming to the chagrin of Aztec supporters. The Sun Devils plowed ahead 5-0 on a goal by Caden Butler with 6:53 left in the period and upped the lead to 6-0 on a power play goal by Wilson with 4:53 to play in the middle stanza. Assists went to Luke Chase and Jake King on the fifth ASU goal while Calahan Butler and Dyer received credit for helpers on the Sun Devils’ sixth unanswered goal in the non-conference contest. Dyer (hat trick with one assist) and Wilson (one goal, three assists) both had four points through two periods.

Arizona State made it 7-0 just 3:42 into the third period. Trevor Kennedy got the goal, assisted by Squeri and Matt Keylor. 

The SDSU faithful finally got a chance to air out their lungs and slap the glass when Bjarnason scored at the 9:30 mark. Zach Stroozas was credited with the lone assist on the Aztecs’ first goal of the new season.

But The Sun Devils spoiled the mood with an eighth goal just 59 seconds later as Wilson scored from Keaton Toenjes. It was the fifth point of the game for Wilson (two goals, three assists).

8-1 ASU.

The Aztecs were not shut out in the season opener but they were out-shot 63-24, including 23-3 in the final period while trying to make a comeback on the scoreboard.

Hsiao finished the game with 55 saves and a 0.873 save percentage while ASU starter Nate Glenn was credited with 23 saves on 24 shots for a 0.960 save percentage.

Patrick Morris received a major penalty and disqualification at 18:36 of the second period to draw a suspension for Saturday’s game.

The Aztecs regrouped with more purpose in the return matchup. ASU led 1-0 on a goal scored at 6:43 of the opening period by Jack Cristiano (assists to Caden Butler and Calahan Butler). The shots were much closer at 16-9 in favor of the visitors. The second period was scoreless until ASU sneaked in a power play goal with just 1.5 seconds left in the period.

The goal came after the Aztecs were charged with a tripping penalty to Ben Hollingsworth with six seconds left on the clock and double minor for roughing to SDSU’s Heck Stephenson and ASU’s Ryan Quast, who found themselves locked in a mutual embrace as they exchanged jabs while falling to the ice, with Stephenson continuing to bedevil Quast while holding him in a headlock.

The teams finished with 13 shots apiece in what was likely the Aztecs’ best period on the weekend.

Dyer was the hero on the 2-0 marker with the power play quick buzzer-beater past SDSU netminder Liam Dee. Wilson was credited with the assist. It was the fourth goal of the two-game series for Dyer.

The hosts were still in the game until Owen Cross extended the ASU lead to 3-0 with 8:18 to play in the third period. Roepcke and Chase collected the assists.

ASU kept the Aztecs scoreless with a 14-4 edge in shots in the final stanza and a 43-26 edge in the game. Hayden Manning recorded a 26-save shutout while Dee made 40 stops on 43 shots for a 0.930 save percentage.

SDSU allowed 20 less shots to the visitors in the second game.

“The compete was there,” Wilson said. “No matter what the score was, they kept going. I’m just proud of the guys. They worked hard.”

Senior forward Mason Brown termed the team’s second outing “much better.”

“We came out more prepared.,” he said. “We had a game plan and stuck to it. We have more good things to build on.”

Brown and fellow forward Cameron Ferraz are both fourth-year players on the Aztecs. Ferraz has led the team in scoring in each of his three previous seasons.

Though the win-loss record has not favored SDSU in particular over the past two seasons, it has been a memorable experience for both players.

Brown, from Surrey, British Columbia, said he remembers traveling with his teammates as a highlight. “The flights, just coming to practice, being around a good group of guys, it’s been so much fun spending time together on and off the ice,” he said.

He does have a wish list put together. “I’d like to win some games and have a great fourth last season, for everyone to come together and have the best year of the four years I’ve been here.”

Ferraz, who grew up in Las Vegas and Arizona, echoed Brown’s sentiments on his senior season with the team.

“I love San Diego and the guys we have in the locker room,” he said. “I’ve made a lot of friends. I’ve enjoyed playing for them.”

He also has set a goal for his final tour of duty with the Aztecs.  “Winning eight games with the schedule we have is a real possibility,” he said. “I want my last year here to be the best experience as it can be.”

As for the newbies to the program, the weekend games against Arizona State obviously marked a beginning.

“It’s a pretty awesome feeling,”Bjarnason said in regard to scoring in his first game as an Aztec.

What brought him down from Canada?

“I love the school, I love the weather, hockey,” he said.

Bjarnason played Junior hockey for the Abbotsford Pilots in the Pacific Junior Hockey League. He also was local when the Abbotsford Canucks won the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup championship in 2025. The Canucks were Pacific Division rivals of the San Diego Gulls. “They had a good little run,” Bjarnason said of the Canucks’ championship season. 

What does he like about his new surroundings? “We got a good group of guys.” he said. “I’m looking forward to a fun season.”

What does he bring to the team as a freshman? “Playmaking the physicality,” he offered. “I’m hoping we can win a lot of games.”

Stangl played youth hockey for the California Heat and California Golden Bears, ventured east to attend the Boston Hockey Academy prep school at the 16U level in 2024-25 and returned to Southern California to play at the 18U level with the Fairmont Prep elite program.

He started playing hockey at age 9 after watching the Los Angeles Kings’ Stanley Cup runs (2012 over the New Jersey Devils with a 10-1 postseason road record and 2014 over the New York Rangers as the first team in NHL history to win three Game 7s on opposing ice en route to the Finals in which they won in double overtime in the series clinching Game 5).

“I think (being at the Boston academy) developed my offensive game,” he said. “It helped me build more confidence physically and mentally.”

At 6-0 and 174 pounds, he brings some size to the SDSU blue line. “It was nice to play in the first game (of the season),” he said. “It was fun. It was great to get in.”

SDSU remains the only ACHA Division I school in California and obviously has a draw in that respect.

Zlochevsky ventured south for both the level of hockey and the weather.

“It’s a great level of hockey,” he said.  “I knew a few of the guys who were already playing on the team, I’m excited I get to represent the program.”

Given his background playing one year in the Juniors Thunder Hockey Club in Exeter, N.H., he was able to step in and be a contributor.

“It felt great,” he said. “It took a while to get used to the everything. But it felt amazing to be out there with the guys and playing at that level, at that speed.

He began his youth hockey career with the San Jose Jr. Sharks. He said his time in New Hampshire helped him “play with more speed, play against bigger guys.” The  attributes he brings to the Aztecs include goal-scoring and speed.

“I just try to make a difference as a player,” he said. “I want us to make the playoffs and win some games.”

SDSU travels to play two games at Arizona State this weekend, Sept. 11-12. The Aztecs remain on the road for games Sept. 17-18at the University of Alabama and Oct. 9-10 at UNLV before returning home to host the Oregon Ducks Oct. 30-31.

The Aztecs were out-scored 11-1 in the season-opening series.

Photo Gallery by Phillip Brents