(Anchorage, AK) The Arizona State hockey team (24-8-6) completes a historic 24-win season with a 5-2 victory over Alaska Anchorage (15-17-2) on Saturday night at Avis Alaska Sports Complex. Lukas Sillinger extended his new program record with a four-point night and the program’s first natural hat trick. Matthew Kopperud finished an unprecedented Sun Devil career while tying the single season goal record with his 23rd on the season. He finishes as the No. 4 power play goal scorer in the NCAA all-time career record books.
Senior and alternate captain Lukas Sillinger finished a six-point weekend in Anchorage with his first career hat trick and an assist for a four-point Saturday night. The hat trick is the first-ever natural hat trick in ASU program history (three goals scored consecutively by the same player with no player on either team scoring in-between).
Sillinger started the scoring just 70 seconds into the game with assists from Charlie Schoen and Ty Jackson. After a 10-minute break to fix a broken panel of glass, play resumed and Sillinger tallied his second goal of the night just 49 seconds later with another assist from Charlie Schoen and a secondary from freshman defenseman Josh Niedermayer.
At the 10-minute mark in the first period, Sillinger netted his third goal to complete the natural hat trick with assists from Tim Lovell and Schoen. The point put Tim Lovell into a tie for the program record for points by a defenseman in a single season at 37.
Matthew Kopperud scored one power play goal on the night to extend his NCAA lead in power play goals with 17 this season. The additional PPG moved him into a tie for the number four spot in the NCAA’s all-time career power play goal leaderboard.
The power play goal was Kopperud’s 23rd goal of the season, which set a tied a program record for goals scored in a single season with Johnny Walker (2018-19). The point moved Kopperud into the No. 2 spot in ASU’s all-time point scoring record book with 108 through his four-year Sun Devil career.
Senior Benji Eckerle tallied the fifth and final goal for the Sun Devils on an empty net.
Multiple players completed their senior and graduate years on Saturday night with their names etched in the Sun Devil Hockey record book.
ASU RECORDS
Career Points
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Single Season Points
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Career Goals:
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Single Season Goals
23: Johnny Walker (2018-19) |
Career Assists:
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Single Season Assists
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Career Game-Winning Goals
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Single Season Game-Winning Goals
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Career Power Play Goals
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Single Season Power Play Goals
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Career Points by a Defenseman
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Single Season Points by a Defenseman
37: Brinson Pasichnuk (2019-20) |
Career Assists by a Defenseman
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Single Season Assists by a Defenseman
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Career Plus/Minus
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Single Season Plus/Minus
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NATIONAL NOTES:
Sillinger’s 37 assists ranks second in the NCAA. His 48 points on the year is tied at No. 9Tim Lovell tallied one assist in each night in Anchorage to finish the season with five goals and 32 assists for 37 points. His 32 assists is third among all defensemen in the NCAA and No. 9 against all skaters. Kopperud’s 23 goals is tied at No. 7 in the country.
Brandon Tabakin’s +24 ranks No. 4 in the country and set a new ASU career and single season record for plus/minus.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Paige Shacklett
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