(Tempe, AZ) The No. 10/11 Arizona State ice hockey team (16-3-5) will faceoff against No. 17/18 Cornell in another top-20 tilt in the desert this weekend. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. MST on Friday and 5 p.m. MST on Saturday at Mullett Arena. Both games can be streamed on ASU’s free Pac-12 Live Stream or listen in on the Sun Devil Hockey Radio Network, Fox Sports 910.
The Sun Devils previously went head-to-head against the Big Red in the Adirondack Winter Invitational championship on Dec. 30 where ASU won in a shootout. This will be the third series meeting between the two schools where the all-time record currently stands at 2-2-1.
The championship game was neck-and-neck after three periods when the Sun Devils scored two unanswered goals to tie the game at 2-2, ultimately sending the game into extra minutes. Jackson Niedermayer scored his third goal of the season to put the Sun Devils on the board in the second period and Matthew Kopperud scored his tenth power play goal of the season 43 seconds into the third period to tie the game. Kyle Smolen put away the game-winner in the shootout to win the program’s second-ever holiday tournament win.
“Everything was advertised and we knew what they were, big, heavy, hard to play against and structured,” said head coach Greg Powers on Cornell. “Obviously, we technically tied them (at the Adirondack Winter Invitational) but we took a trophy from them, so they’re going to come in here probably pretty hot and ready to go and we’re going to have to be really sharp.”
The Sun Devils quickly earned the program’s third-ever tournament win this past weekend in the Desert Hockey Classic after defeating Harvard and Omaha. Kyle Smolen once again netted the tournament winner in the 2-1 overtime win against the Mavericks. ASU is currently 8-0-2 in its last 10 games, the longest undefeated streak in program history (10 games), and have not lost since Nov. 26, 2023.
TOP IN THE COUNTRY
The Sun Devils are currently undefeated in their last 10 games and are coming off of their second tournament win of the season after this past weekend. The ASU team continues to rank amongst the top in the country in numerous categories:
- No. 1: ASU has scored 27 power play goals in 24 games which leads the NCAA
- Tied-No.1: Currently tied for fewest losses in the NCAA at 3
- No. 2: ASU’s 16 wins is second-best in the country
- Tied-No. 2: ASU has scored 83 goals in 24 games so far this season
- No. 4: Winning percentage at 77 percent
- No. 7: Power play unit converts at a 27.8 percent success rate
- No. 8: ASU owns the eighth place spot for fewest goals against per game at 2.33
- No. 24: ASU’s penalty kill unit boasts a 81.8 percent success rate
SUN DEVIL NOTABLES
- ASU has held its opponents to less than 30 shots on goal through the last eight games dating back to Dec. 8, 2023 vs. Dartmouth
- TJ Semptimphelter owns the No. 4 spot in winning percentage (.755)
- Brian Chambers has won 252 faceoffs through 24 games, the fourth-best in the nation
- Brandon Tabakin sits at No.1 in the nation with a +23 on the season
- Lukas Sillinger currently has 28 points with six goals and 22 assists, putting him at the No.4 spot nationally for most points
- Matthew Kopperud is still on top for most powerplay goals across the NCAA this season with 10
RANKED DEVILS
ASU continues its 13th-straight week in the national polls. The Sun Devils now hold the No.11 and No.13 spot this week after two-straight tournament wins in the USCHO.com and USA Hockey/The Rink Live polls, respectively. Previously, ASU has held onto the No. 12 spot since sweeping Robert Morris in Pittsburgh just over three weeks ago. The highest national poll ranking ever received by the Sun Devils was No. 9 on Feb. 17, 2020 in the 2019-20 season.
RECORD CHASE
- Tim Lovell (22A) is two assists away from breaking Brinson Pasichnuk’s single season record for assists (23A) set in 2019-20.
- Matthew Kopperud is four power play goals away from breaking the program record he set for most power play goals in a single season with 13 in 2021-22.
- TJ Semptimphelter is one shutout away from setting a program record for career shutouts. The record is set at eight by ASU alum and current NHL Seattle Kraken netminder Joey Daccord.
BETWEEN THE PIPES
Junior goaltender TJ Semptimphelter continues to dominate the net as he picked up several more wins in the past few weeks, maintaining his current standings for winning percentage nationally. The Sun Devils are currently 9-2-2 this season when Semptimphelterrecords 25+ save games. He also has 21 career 30+ save games with seven recorded in the 2023-24 season.
BUILDING THE RESUME
ASU is currently on the longest undefeated streak in program history (10 games). The last regulation loss was Nov. 26, 2023. The Sun Devils are tied at No. 1 for fewest losses in the NCAA (3) and the ASU offense ranks second for most goals scored in the country (83). In net, TJ Semptimphelter ranks fourth in winning percentage (.775).
THIRD LINE MAGIC
Last weekend, the third line of Benji Eckerle, Ryan O’Reilly, and Kyle Smolen carried the Sun Devil offense, scoring six of ASU’s seven goals and tallying 10 total points. O’Reilly tallied two goals in a single game for the first time in his collegiate career on Friday night against Harvard. Smolen made the same feat against the Crimson as the pair scored four of ASU’s five goals against Harvard. The next night, Smolen netted the game-winning goal in overtime to seal the Desert Hockey Classic championship for the Sun Devils. Benji Eckerletallied two assists and finished the weekend as a +4, boosting his season plus/minus to +10, the second-highest on the team.
COMEBACK KIDS
In three of the last four games, the Sun Devils have come from behind to win. Two weeks ago at the Adirondack Winter Invitational, the Sun Devils were down 2-0 in the second period against both Clarkson and then-No. 17 Cornell, but came back to win against the Knights and tie the Big Red while collecting the shootout win. ASU found itself in the same scenario down 1-0 to Omaha at the beginning of the third period. Thanks to an early goal from Ryan O’Reilly, ASU was able to push the game to overtime and collect an overtime win courtesy of Kyle Smolen.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
Head Coach Greg Powers
On getting through Cornell’s defense and changing the offensive approach:
“Simplify. Get pucks and bodies in the net and kind of beat them at their own game. They’re not going to give you much off of transition, they back pressure really hard. They’re really good D that skate well and have good gaps so we’re going to have to put pucks in behind them, grind them out down low. Same thing we did against Omaha when we got going in the third and just play a simple, hard game.”
On goaltender TJ Semptimphelter:
“What’s impressive about TJ is in the past month he’s getting peppered by shots, so we’re doing a really good job of not really giving anybody sustained o-zone time on us, but we’re still giving up some grade As and some opportunities off of a transition and he’s making those saves. So I think that’s maturity, you know the maturation process and his game from last year to this year. A lot of goalies when you’re not seeing rubber consistently and you’re not seeing all of those shots you get a little cold, you lose focus and he’s stepped up in that regard where he is just dialed at all times. He could go three or four minutes without seeing a shot and then see a two-on-one and make a big save or a breakaway and make a big save. That’s what he has done for us, especially the last two weeks. I think it was 22 shots in regulation both games in Lake Placid and here it was something like 26 and 26. We’re doing a good job of limiting shot count, and TJ is doing a great job of holding us in games when we’re giving up those grade As.”
Graduate Forward and Captain Tyler Gratton
Where do you see this team now compared to the start of the season:
“It was a good start and we’ve definitely taken strides as a team but we’re not done yet. We need to keep on moving and build off the first half of this season if we want to make our expectations of we’re we want to be at the end of the season.”
On what the team needs to change ahead of this weekend to play Cornell again:
“I think we just need to play a more complete three periods. When we played them two weeks ago we had times in the game that were good and definitely times that weren’t as good which is how they were able to get their offense on. We definitely need to kind of tweak our special teams a little bit. Yeah it is a rare chance that we get to see the same team two weeks later but it should definitely be a good contest, they’re a hard and heavy team so we’re going to be ready for it.”
Freshman Forward Kyle Smolen
On the third-line’s success and what’s been the change:
“Just time, time together, being on the ice all the time together, being around each other at all times and joking and laughing, having fun. We’re building chemistry in any way we can and when we have success we congratulate each other and then we move forward and talk through what’s working and what’s not working. I think that’s the biggest thing on the bench is when we don’t have a good shift, we go over it as a group and figure out why it didn’t go well and what we could do better and then we go out there and execute.”
On the impact four years in junior hockey had on him and his game coming into ASU:
“I encourage anybody that’s in junior hockey to just totally use it. I think the biggest advantage ever is having time to develop as a player. When you’re ready you have four years, you can either use them all or not. I recommend using them all because it made me a more mature player and gave me the opportunity to score points in ways I have never scored points before. It helps me translate into the college level, obviously not at first it takes time to get used to the learning curve, but I think the biggest thing was being able to find ways to score in ways I never have before, so I think yes, absolutely use it while you can.”
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Paige Shacklett
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