(St. Cloud, MN) True to the perseverance that has defined desert hockey all season, the No. 13 Arizona State hockey team (12-8-1, 7-4-0 NCHC) rallied from a two-goal deficit to score five unanswered goals over No. 15 St. Cloud State (11-10-0, 4-7-0 NCHC) on Friday night. The 6-3 victory over the Huskies launched the Sun Devils into sole possession of the No. 1 spot in National Collegiate Hockey Conference standings.
With two goals at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center, Ryan Kirwan moved into a three-way tie for the NCHC’s top goal-scorer this season with 13 on the year. The mark is also tied for eighth in the country.
Gibson Homer made his ninth start of the season and his first after being named to the Mike Richter Award Watch List, given annually to the best goaltender in college hockey. He made 30 saves and now boasts a 5-3-1 record with a .929 save percentage and 2.01 goals against average.
Fifth-year Benji Eckerle was credited with the game-winner, his first since his rookie season in 2020-21. He has three goals and four assists on the season.
Sophomore Kyle Smolen enjoyed a two-point night, his second in the past three games, with a goal and an assist. He boasts six points in the last six games (2G, 4A).
Game Notables
Cullen Potter, a Minnesota native, scored the game’s opening goal for his second goal in the last three games. Potter also tallied the opening goal in Friday night’s win over then-No. 14 North Dakota.
ASU tallied three unanswered goals in the second period to steal a 4-3 lead after being down 3-1. Goals came from Ryan Kirwan, Lukas Sillinger, and Benji Eckerle.
Ryan Kirwan, Bennett Schimek, and Noah Beck are tied for the team lead in points with 20 each.
In his first game back after missing a weekend due to injury, Ty Jackson tallied an assist on Sillinger’s goal.
Cole Gordon set a new career single game high with two points on Friday night (2A).
ASU is now on a three-game winning streak on the road dating back to the two-game series sweep over then-No. 1 Denver at Magness Arena on Nov. 22-23.
ASU moves to 6-2-1 in games when the opponent outshoots the Sun Devils. ASU remains perfect when leading after two periods at 9-0-0 this season.
PERIOD BREAKDOWN
First Period
Following the opening faceoff, back-and-forth play ensued for the first 10 minutes of the game. Shortly after the 12-minute mark, Potter skated from coast-to-coast and sent a snipe past the Huskies’ netminder for his eighth collegiate goal. He was assisted by senior alternate captain and defenseman Ty Murchison. Two minutes later, Noah Beck was sent to the box for interference and SCSU capitalized on the man-advantage with a goal of its own.
Second Period
Quick off an offensive draw, SCSU won the faceoff and immediately fired a shot far side on Homer to take its first lead of the game, 2-1. Four minutes later, SCSU scored a questionable goal that was unsuccessfully challenged by ASU for goalie interference. Halfway through the period, ASU started cooking with gas – scoring three goals within three minutes and 30 seconds all from three different skaters. The team’s leading goal scorer, Ryan Kirwan, tallied his 12th goal of the season with assists from Kyle Smolen and Artem Shlaine. Ninety seconds later, Lukas Sillinger tallied the equalizer with help from Ty Jackson and Charlie Schoen. Benji Eckerle notched what would become the eventual game-winning goal with a perfect finish from Cole Gordon’s saucy cross-ice pass.
Third Period
Before even hitting five minutes into the period, Kyle Smolen was already working to add on the goal insurance for the Sun Devils. He tallied sixth goal of the season, this time on the power play, with assists from Ryan Kirwan and Lukas Sillinger. With five minutes remaining in the period, SCSU attempted a last-ditch effort to shrink the differential but came up unsuccessful. Ryan Kirwan scored his second goal of the night on the empty net at the 18:01 mark.
UP NEXT
ASU looks for its second consecutive road sweep in game two against the Huskies on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 6 p.m. MST on NCHC.tv, Fox10Xtra (tape delay), and FoxSports910 radio.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Paige Shacklett
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