TEMPE – As proven time and time again, Saturdays are for the Sun Devils. Led by the shutout effort of sophomore goaltender TJ Semptimphelter, the Sun Devils extended their Saturday win-streak at home to five-straight games. With his fourth shutout of the season tonight, Semptimphelter ties for first in the NCAA for shutouts this season.
The Sun Devils bounced back in the third place game of the Desert Hockey Classic with a duo of goals and a shutout performance to backstop the maroon and gold to their third-straight win, 2-0, against the Air Force Falcons (6-12-2) on Saturday night.
ASU's Saturday win streak at home dates back to October 22, 2022 against Colorado College and includes wins over CC, Alaska Anchorage, No. 2 Minnesota, Boston College, and Air Force.
The Sun Devils (11-12-0) offense was led by freshman forward Ryan Alexander who scored his sixth goal of the season and senior defensemen Jack Judson who netted his fourth goal (EN) of the year to secure the game for ASU.
The win moves the Sun Devils to 7-0-0 on the season when leading after two periods, including Semptimphelter's fourth shutout of the season which moves him into a tie for second in program history for most shutouts by an ASU goaltender in a single season. Joey Daccord owns the program record for shutouts with eight which was obtained in the 2018-19 season.
Senior forward Robert Mastrosimone has obtained a point in five of the last six games with his team-leading 17th assist of the season.
How It Happened:
First Period
The first nine minutes of the opening period left opportunities few and far between for both benches. A penalty assessed to Air Force initiated the first power play of the night at the benefit of ASU at the halfway point of the first period, but ASU was unable to capitalize.
The Sun Devils had one more power play chance with five minutes remaining in the opening frame, but couldn't find the back as the Falcons withstood the pressure of ASU's top-20 power play unit.
Both teams still looked to tally the first goal of the game when the clock ran out on the first frame. With two power play chances, ASU outshot the Falcons, 11-8. It marks only the sixth time this season the Sun Devils went into the first intermission in a scoreless tie.
Second Period
Five minutes into the second period, ASU was assessed its first penalty of the game, putting the Falcons on the power play but despite multiple chances the resilient Sun Devils killed their 15th straight power play which is the second-longest streak in program history.
Halfway through, the Sun Devils enjoyed another power play for the third time of the night with multiple chances to break through, but the Falcons were successful in avoiding giving up the first goal of the contest.
About seven minutes remained in the second period when Alexander snuck in the game's first goal to electrify Mullett Arena and break the scoreless tie for the Sun Devils. It marks his first goal since facing No. 1 Denver on Dec. 2. The Jackson twins assisted the goal with Ty Jackson obtaining his seventh assist of the season along with Dylan Jackson being credited with his second on the year.
Third Period
In the opening minute of the final period, Tim Lovell sustained an injury and was stretchered off the ice by medical staff. Thanks to the swift action of the Sun Devil Hockey Athletic Trainer Rick Covard and ASU medical staff, Lovell was taken into the team area where his condition improved quickly and the junior defenseman was up and moving shortly after the incident.
ASU was subsequently awarded a five-minute power play as the Falcons were called for boarding and a game misconduct. Despite the golden opportunity to extend their lead, the Sun Devils couldn't capitalize on the man advantage. Air Force would go on to kill a fifth and final power play opportunity to keep the Sun Devils silent on five PP chances (23 minutes).
Air Force pulled its goaltender with two minutes remaining but to no avail as senior defenseman Jack Judson smacked an empty net goal to put away the game for good to send the Sun Devils to 2-0 victory.
Up Next:
Arizona State continues its home stand and welcome No. 19 Minnesota State at 7 p.m. MST at Mullett Arena on Friday and Saturday, January 13-14. Coverage can be found on ASU Live Stream and heard on FOX SPORTS 910 KGME.
QUOTES:
Arizona State Head Coach Greg Powers:
Opening statement on Tim Lovell's condition:
"I'll start with the obvious, most important thing that everyone is probably wondering. Timmy [Lovell] is totally fine. He's up, completely coherent. I don't think he's going to go to the hospital. It was a scary moment, but he's okay. We'll leave it at that and go to the game.
On overall performance:
"When you're missing as many guys as we are right now. You take wins any way you can get them. We missed three, literally, wide open nets tonight. Doan missed one, Judson missed one, Dylan Jackson missed one and Alexander missed one. So four. Again, we were a bit offensively challenged, going the extra mile but we found a way. TJ was great. Credit to the Air Force, I thought they played hard, they're tough to play against. They give everyone a hard time when they play. You take wins any way you can get them. It's hard to win in college hockey.
On TJ Semptimphelter this year:
"He's our best player. He's been our best player all year. Tonight was his fourth shutout, we didn't have any last year and we have 16 [games] to play. I think you could make the argument he's the best goalie in the country, I really could. I believe that. Again, he's a sophomore. He's going to be here for a while. He's a guy we're going to build our program around going forward, and he should be because he's that good.
On chemistry of the line:
"I think we are slowly building it. Every game we just seem to gel together a little bit more. They are fun guys to play with, good kids. They know how to find each other, and they know how to find me and I think we will do nothing but improve if we are kept together. "
On whole weekend:
"Just one game at a time. It's really tough losing the first game, especially because it is our tournament. But you have got to know how to put that behind you and just focus on what's ahead."
The Sun Devils bounced back in the third place game of the Desert Hockey Classic with a duo of goals and a shutout performance to backstop the maroon and gold to their third-straight win, 2-0, against the Air Force Falcons (6-12-2) on Saturday night.
ASU's Saturday win streak at home dates back to October 22, 2022 against Colorado College and includes wins over CC, Alaska Anchorage, No. 2 Minnesota, Boston College, and Air Force.
The Sun Devils (11-12-0) offense was led by freshman forward Ryan Alexander who scored his sixth goal of the season and senior defensemen Jack Judson who netted his fourth goal (EN) of the year to secure the game for ASU.
The win moves the Sun Devils to 7-0-0 on the season when leading after two periods, including Semptimphelter's fourth shutout of the season which moves him into a tie for second in program history for most shutouts by an ASU goaltender in a single season. Joey Daccord owns the program record for shutouts with eight which was obtained in the 2018-19 season.
Senior forward Robert Mastrosimone has obtained a point in five of the last six games with his team-leading 17th assist of the season.
How It Happened:
First Period
The first nine minutes of the opening period left opportunities few and far between for both benches. A penalty assessed to Air Force initiated the first power play of the night at the benefit of ASU at the halfway point of the first period, but ASU was unable to capitalize.
The Sun Devils had one more power play chance with five minutes remaining in the opening frame, but couldn't find the back as the Falcons withstood the pressure of ASU's top-20 power play unit.
Both teams still looked to tally the first goal of the game when the clock ran out on the first frame. With two power play chances, ASU outshot the Falcons, 11-8. It marks only the sixth time this season the Sun Devils went into the first intermission in a scoreless tie.
Second Period
Five minutes into the second period, ASU was assessed its first penalty of the game, putting the Falcons on the power play but despite multiple chances the resilient Sun Devils killed their 15th straight power play which is the second-longest streak in program history.
Halfway through, the Sun Devils enjoyed another power play for the third time of the night with multiple chances to break through, but the Falcons were successful in avoiding giving up the first goal of the contest.
About seven minutes remained in the second period when Alexander snuck in the game's first goal to electrify Mullett Arena and break the scoreless tie for the Sun Devils. It marks his first goal since facing No. 1 Denver on Dec. 2. The Jackson twins assisted the goal with Ty Jackson obtaining his seventh assist of the season along with Dylan Jackson being credited with his second on the year.
Third Period
In the opening minute of the final period, Tim Lovell sustained an injury and was stretchered off the ice by medical staff. Thanks to the swift action of the Sun Devil Hockey Athletic Trainer Rick Covard and ASU medical staff, Lovell was taken into the team area where his condition improved quickly and the junior defenseman was up and moving shortly after the incident.
ASU was subsequently awarded a five-minute power play as the Falcons were called for boarding and a game misconduct. Despite the golden opportunity to extend their lead, the Sun Devils couldn't capitalize on the man advantage. Air Force would go on to kill a fifth and final power play opportunity to keep the Sun Devils silent on five PP chances (23 minutes).
Air Force pulled its goaltender with two minutes remaining but to no avail as senior defenseman Jack Judson smacked an empty net goal to put away the game for good to send the Sun Devils to 2-0 victory.
Up Next:
Arizona State continues its home stand and welcome No. 19 Minnesota State at 7 p.m. MST at Mullett Arena on Friday and Saturday, January 13-14. Coverage can be found on ASU Live Stream and heard on FOX SPORTS 910 KGME.
QUOTES:
Arizona State Head Coach Greg Powers:
Opening statement on Tim Lovell's condition:
"I'll start with the obvious, most important thing that everyone is probably wondering. Timmy [Lovell] is totally fine. He's up, completely coherent. I don't think he's going to go to the hospital. It was a scary moment, but he's okay. We'll leave it at that and go to the game.
On overall performance:
"When you're missing as many guys as we are right now. You take wins any way you can get them. We missed three, literally, wide open nets tonight. Doan missed one, Judson missed one, Dylan Jackson missed one and Alexander missed one. So four. Again, we were a bit offensively challenged, going the extra mile but we found a way. TJ was great. Credit to the Air Force, I thought they played hard, they're tough to play against. They give everyone a hard time when they play. You take wins any way you can get them. It's hard to win in college hockey.
On TJ Semptimphelter this year:
"He's our best player. He's been our best player all year. Tonight was his fourth shutout, we didn't have any last year and we have 16 [games] to play. I think you could make the argument he's the best goalie in the country, I really could. I believe that. Again, he's a sophomore. He's going to be here for a while. He's a guy we're going to build our program around going forward, and he should be because he's that good.
Sophomore Goalie TJ Semptimphelter:
On 4th shutout:
"It felt great to get that win, obviously. I thought everybody put in a great effort. It was a great, hard-earned team win. As we come down this stretch, each win is super important, and I knew that and the team knew that going into it and we just look forward to carrying this momentum into next week."
On where his game is at:
"I think I'm at about the halfway mark. The goalie coach, staff, and I sat down and talked about how much I have accomplished and improved since last year on various different things. For me, a big thing was working on controlling the plays, controlling the puck, managing my depth, and that is something that we are focusing on and I feel like I have taken a tremendous step in that area of my game. Like I said, every night I just worry about stopping the next shot and keeping my team in the game. As long as I can do that and give these guys a shot every night, we have a chance."
On net front presence from defense:
"I thought they did a great job. Obviously any time that I can see the puck, it is a lot easier of a save. So I thought that they did a great job with the guys in front of me. Credit to Air Force, those guys worked really hard, they tried to get bodies in front, but I thought our defense did a great job of handling that and that's something that we focus on. To come in and oftentimes they want to come in and put guys in front of the net to get pucks in the net, but I thought we did a great job."
On chemistry of the line:
"I think we are slowly building it. Every game we just seem to gel together a little bit more. They are fun guys to play with, good kids. They know how to find each other, and they know how to find me and I think we will do nothing but improve if we are kept together. "
On whole weekend:
"Just one game at a time. It's really tough losing the first game, especially because it is our tournament. But you have got to know how to put that behind you and just focus on what's ahead."