Arizona State hockey improves to 7-2-1 on the season after splitting a two game series last weekend against the No. 2 ranked University of Denver. In Friday night’s contest at Mullett Arena, the Sun Devils displayed their resiliency coming back to win 6-5 in overtime. Senior graduate student Tyler Gratton sent Arizona State fans into a frenzy scoring the game-winning goal. Trailing at four different points throughout the game, ASU’s top line consisting of Ty Jackson, Dylan Jackson, and Lucas Sillinger scored all the goals in regulation. Dyan Jackson recorded a hat trick and tied the game at 5 goals a piece in the third period. Sillinger and Ty Jackson both had a goal and assist in the winning effort. Junior goalie TJ Semptimphelter was lights out yet again, stopping 35 out 40 shots coming from the Pioneers. Junior King Carter scored two short handed goals and freshman Mikko Matikka scored the last two goals for Denver. ASU’s upset victory promoted their ranking by two spots in the latest USCHO.com rankings from No.16 to No. 14.
The Pioneers would respond in the next day’s game, winning 8-4. The Sun Devils went up 3-0 early in period number two. Denver came back with four straight goals in the second period, two of which game on the man advantage. Junior Jack Devine scored both power play tallies in the period for the Pioneers. Denver wasn’t done yet, as they scored four goals in the third period. Senior Matthew Kupperud cut the Pioneer lead down to 5-4 on the power play but Denver would come away with the win. Freshman goalie Freddie Halyk had 29 saves on the night with a strong performance after struggling the game before. Junior King Carter had a four point performance totaling six points in the two game series. The Pioneers head back home to take on the University of Omaha (5-2-1) who recently swept Long Island University at home in a two game series.
The Sun Devils will take on Alaska Anchorage this week at Mullett Arena. The games will take place on November 17th and 19th as ASU’s eight game homestand starts to wind down. The Seawolves are 5-6-1 on the season with notable wins over Penn State and UMass Lowell. The Sun Devils took the three out of four games against the Seawolves last season. Junior Max Helgeson and senior Ben Almquist lead Alaska in scoring with 12 points each. Sophomore goalie Jared Whale has a 2.74 GAA (Goals Against Average) and a 4-4 record on the season.
For Arizona State, senior Lucas Sillinger leads all Sun Devils in scoring with 12 points. Senior Matthew Kopperud still leads the team in goals with six. A three-way tie for the lead in assists with seven consist of Sillinger, freshman Anothony Dowd, and graduate student Brian Chambers.
The Desert Hockey Classic schedule has been released for games at Mullett Arena. On Friday January 5th, Ohama will take on Umass Lowell at 3:30 p.m. ASU will play No. 7 ranked Havard at 7 p.m. the same day. On Saturday January 6th, one game will feature the winners from the previous day and the other game will be the losers from yesterday.