Freshly minted in the USCHO.com top 20 rankings after capturing the Ice Breaker Tournament at Denver over the weekend, No. 18 Air Force hits the road this weekend for a two-game series against Arizona State.

NCAA Division I’s newest program, the Sun Devils were swept at Notre Dame this past weekend, though they hung tough Saturday in a 4-2 loss that was clinched by an empty-net goal.

Arizona State, which went 5-22-2 in its debut season, continues to play an independent schedule. There were rumblings over the summer it had applied to join the NCHC but the league declined ASU’s outreach, as well as that of Minnesota State-Mankato.

Here is a closer look at the Sun Devils, whose roster – as one might expect of a second-year program – includes just two seniors and six upperclassmen in all.

Offense

Freshman forward Tyler Busch scored in both games last weekend. ASU also got goals from sophomore defensemen Nicholas Gushue and Jakob Stridesberg. While it generated just 44 shots in two game vs. the Fighting Irish, it’s important to note Notre Dame was ranked No. 9 at the time and is fairly strong defensively.

Defense

The bigger issue for Arizona State is it allowed 88 shots on goal to the Irish. Freshman Joey Daccord was under siege in Friday’s 9-2 loss. He made 42 saves on 51 shots in his college debut. Senior Robert Levin gave the Sun Devils a chance to win Saturday, making 33 saves on 36 shots.

Special teams

They weren’t very special. The Sun Devils went on the power play 13 times, but cashed in just once (7.7 percent). The penalty kill was a worse problem because they gave Notre Dame 28 man advantages and only killed off 21 (75 percent).

Schedule

The teams play Friday night at Gila River Arena – home of the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes, then not again until Sunday afternoon. Pac-12 Network is televising the Sunday game, which starts at 2:30 p.m. MT.