TEMPE – The Arizona State ice hockey team (15-3-5) passed game one of the Desert Hockey Classic with flying colors as the Sun Devil third line of Benji Eckerle, Ryan O'Reilly, and Kyle Smolen carried ASU to a 5-2 victory over the Harvard Crimson (1-8-3).
The Sun Devils play future National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) foe, Omaha (10-5-2), in the tournament championship tilt tomorrow night at 7 p.m. MST at Mullett Arena.
Harvard and UMass Lowell will compete in the consolation round starting at 3:30 p.m. MST. All tickets are all-session passes and reentry is permitted for the Desert Hockey Classic. Both Saturday matchups will air on the ASU Live Stream.
Several Sun Devils found the back of the net in the eighth meeting between Harvard and the Harvard of the West. Cole Gordon grabbed the first goal of the night and Kyle Smolen and Ryan O'Reilly each tallied two goals. Smolen logged three points tonight (2G, 1A) for his first career three-point game.
TJ Semptimphelter made 16 saves on the night and collected his first career point with his assist on Kyle Smolen's second goal. Currently, Semptimphelter is tied for fourth-best goalie winning percentage in the nation at .750
GAME NOTABLES
PERIOD BREAKDOWN
First Period
ASU and Harvard started the game with a back-and-forth battle on each end of the ice. Not long after the start of the period, the Sun Devils went down a man but were able to successfully kill off the penalty. ASU struck first with a high slot goal from rookie forward Cole Gordon as senior defenseman Tim Lovell and junior forward Jackson Niedermayer each tallied an assist. The Crimson retaliated and tied the game at one apiece just three minutes later. As the clock wound down, senior forward Ryan O'Reilly snuck one in the back of the net with 0.1 seconds left on the clock to give the Sun Devils the edge at the end of the period. Kyle Smolen and Ethan Szmagaj were credited with the assists.
Second Period
Ryan O'Reilly carried the momentum on from his buzzer-beating goal at the end of the first into the second period. He stole the puck from a Crimson skater in the neutral zone and took it down the ice for a two-on-one breakaway and fired one past the goalie to put ASU up 3-1. The Sun Devils took their second penalty of the night just past the halfway marker of the period. The Crimson were able to convert on the power play to gain back a goal and make it 3-2.
Third Period
ASU and Harvard spent the first half of the third frame going end-to-end. Just past the 10th minute in the period, Kyle Smolen found the back of the net for the Sun Devils to make it 4-2 with help from Benji Eckerle and Ty Murchison. The cherry on top of the opening round was the goaltender assist from TJ Semptimphelter on Kyle Smolen's empty net goal to seal a 5-2 victory for the maroon and gold.
QUOTES OF THE GAME
Head Coach Greg Powers
On the bottom six in the lines:
"They gave us a ton of energy. That's what their job is, to give us energy and play with energy and finish checks and get pucks in. They have the ability to chip in offensively and they obviously did tonight in a major way. So when we have that scoring depth, we're a tough team to beat, and I think that's a big reason why we've lost three games in 23 in particular."
On the importance of every game:
"They realize where we are and what we need to do. Every game is kind of a game seven for us, and we have to have that mentality. It doesn't mean if we drop home, we're out because we're not. But we have to be urgent and desperate in every situation. And I felt like tonight, especially in the last two periods, we really didn't give up much at all. So our guys defended really well and managed pucks. Well, they bought into getting pucks in behind the defense. For some of the skill guys, to see a Lukas Sillinger self chip a puck and go in on the forecheck in the be F1, he knows it's playoff hockey time. So if he's doing it, everybody can."
Senior Forward Ryan O'Reilly
On his game tonight:
"It felt really good. I think our line right now found some really good chemistry and we're kind of building off last week. Playing for a trophy is really fun. So, I think that was kind of a good contribution for that."
On the importance of every game:
"Yeah, being independent, it's kind of a tricky thing in college hockey, but we've run that really well here and especially in the second half, we're gonna make a push for playoffs. And we got to take care of games, especially at home."
Freshman Forward Kyle Smolen
On his line in the bottom six:
"Yeah, like you said, having two seniors working with you every day, kind of giving you advice on how to play the game the right way. It just makes it easy to want to go out there every night and play for them and when you practice with them every week and you work with them and they give you advice, it kind of makes the game easier."
On the importance of every game:
"It's just every day you show up at the rink, it's the same thing, everyone's dialed in and there's only one goal in mind and that's to move up in any way possible and everyone's doing everything they can and everyone is pulling their weight."
The Sun Devils play future National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) foe, Omaha (10-5-2), in the tournament championship tilt tomorrow night at 7 p.m. MST at Mullett Arena.
Harvard and UMass Lowell will compete in the consolation round starting at 3:30 p.m. MST. All tickets are all-session passes and reentry is permitted for the Desert Hockey Classic. Both Saturday matchups will air on the ASU Live Stream.
Several Sun Devils found the back of the net in the eighth meeting between Harvard and the Harvard of the West. Cole Gordon grabbed the first goal of the night and Kyle Smolen and Ryan O'Reilly each tallied two goals. Smolen logged three points tonight (2G, 1A) for his first career three-point game.
Didn't study enough for this one ??@kyle_smolen /// #BeTheTradition pic.twitter.com/3h75Rp63c9
— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) January 6, 2024
TJ Semptimphelter made 16 saves on the night and collected his first career point with his assist on Kyle Smolen's second goal. Currently, Semptimphelter is tied for fourth-best goalie winning percentage in the nation at .750
GOALIE ASSIST ??@tsemp35 /// #BeTheTradition pic.twitter.com/bDmI1DihUj
— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) January 6, 2024
| Friday, January 5 | Saturday, January 6 | |
| Game 1 3:30PM MST |
Omaha defeats UMass Lowell, 4-3 OT | Harvard vs. UMass Lowell |
| Game 2 7:00PM MST |
#12 ASU defeats Harvard, 5-2 | #12 ASU vs. Omaha |
GAME NOTABLES
- Goaltender TJ Semptimphelter logged his first career point with an assist on Kyle Smolen's empty-net goal. It became the ninth point scored by an ASU goaltender in program history. Semptimphelter's 13 wins is tied for second in the country.
- Ryan O'Reilly hit a new single-game career high for most goals in a game with two.
- Ty Murchison was +3 on the night, tying his single-game career high.
- Brian Chambers had a faceoff percentage of 64.3% tonight. He currently ranks fifth nationally on faceoffs won. ASU won 58.2 percent of faceoffs against Harvard.
- Smolen has scored four goals in the last three games, not including his shootout game-winner to seal the Adirondack Winter Invitational Championship victory last weekend in Lake Placid.
- With an assist tonight, Tim Lovell solely owns the No. 2 rank for most assists in the country with 22 on the season
- ASU's five goals boosts the team to 81 on the season which ranks third-most in the NCAA
HIGH SLOT ??#BeTheTradition /// #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/ILhOKN7oXW
— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) January 6, 2024
PERIOD BREAKDOWN
First Period
ASU and Harvard started the game with a back-and-forth battle on each end of the ice. Not long after the start of the period, the Sun Devils went down a man but were able to successfully kill off the penalty. ASU struck first with a high slot goal from rookie forward Cole Gordon as senior defenseman Tim Lovell and junior forward Jackson Niedermayer each tallied an assist. The Crimson retaliated and tied the game at one apiece just three minutes later. As the clock wound down, senior forward Ryan O'Reilly snuck one in the back of the net with 0.1 seconds left on the clock to give the Sun Devils the edge at the end of the period. Kyle Smolen and Ethan Szmagaj were credited with the assists.
Second Period
Ryan O'Reilly carried the momentum on from his buzzer-beating goal at the end of the first into the second period. He stole the puck from a Crimson skater in the neutral zone and took it down the ice for a two-on-one breakaway and fired one past the goalie to put ASU up 3-1. The Sun Devils took their second penalty of the night just past the halfway marker of the period. The Crimson were able to convert on the power play to gain back a goal and make it 3-2.
Third Period
ASU and Harvard spent the first half of the third frame going end-to-end. Just past the 10th minute in the period, Kyle Smolen found the back of the net for the Sun Devils to make it 4-2 with help from Benji Eckerle and Ty Murchison. The cherry on top of the opening round was the goaltender assist from TJ Semptimphelter on Kyle Smolen's empty net goal to seal a 5-2 victory for the maroon and gold.
QUOTES OF THE GAME
Head Coach Greg Powers
On the bottom six in the lines:
"They gave us a ton of energy. That's what their job is, to give us energy and play with energy and finish checks and get pucks in. They have the ability to chip in offensively and they obviously did tonight in a major way. So when we have that scoring depth, we're a tough team to beat, and I think that's a big reason why we've lost three games in 23 in particular."
On the importance of every game:
"They realize where we are and what we need to do. Every game is kind of a game seven for us, and we have to have that mentality. It doesn't mean if we drop home, we're out because we're not. But we have to be urgent and desperate in every situation. And I felt like tonight, especially in the last two periods, we really didn't give up much at all. So our guys defended really well and managed pucks. Well, they bought into getting pucks in behind the defense. For some of the skill guys, to see a Lukas Sillinger self chip a puck and go in on the forecheck in the be F1, he knows it's playoff hockey time. So if he's doing it, everybody can."
Senior Forward Ryan O'Reilly
On his game tonight:
"It felt really good. I think our line right now found some really good chemistry and we're kind of building off last week. Playing for a trophy is really fun. So, I think that was kind of a good contribution for that."
On the importance of every game:
"Yeah, being independent, it's kind of a tricky thing in college hockey, but we've run that really well here and especially in the second half, we're gonna make a push for playoffs. And we got to take care of games, especially at home."
Freshman Forward Kyle Smolen
On his line in the bottom six:
"Yeah, like you said, having two seniors working with you every day, kind of giving you advice on how to play the game the right way. It just makes it easy to want to go out there every night and play for them and when you practice with them every week and you work with them and they give you advice, it kind of makes the game easier."
On the importance of every game:
"It's just every day you show up at the rink, it's the same thing, everyone's dialed in and there's only one goal in mind and that's to move up in any way possible and everyone's doing everything they can and everyone is pulling their weight."