TEMPE– The Arizona State ice hockey team (16-3-5) are the 2024 Desert Hockey Classic champions after coming out on top over Omaha (10-6-2) in overtime. Ryan O'Reilly scored his third goal of the weekend to tie the game in the third period and the Sun Devils won in overtime thanks to Kyle Smolen's breakaway game-winner.
It was the O'Reilly and Smolen show this weekend as the pair combined for seven points in two games. Smolen recorded his second game-winner in a row and was responsible for four total points (3G, 1A) and O'Reilly contributed three (3G).
TJ Semptimphelter came up with several big saves throughout the night to keep the Sun Devils in the game, tallying 26. After ASU's win over Harvard on Friday night, Semptimphelter owns the sole fourth place spot for best goalie winning percentage in the nation.
The Sun Devils went back-to-back on holiday tournament wins after beating Cornell in a shootout to claim the Adirondack Winter Invitational championship last weekend. The team has now gone undefeated for 10 straight games. ASU has not lost in regulation since November 26.
UP NEXT: ASU welcomes No. 16 Cornell to Tempe next weekend for their second meeting this season. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. MST on Friday night and 5 p.m. MST on Saturday night 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.
GAME NOTABLES
PERIOD BREAKDOWN
First Period
ASU and Omaha both came out hot to start the championship game going end-to-end in a showcase of physicality. Omaha claimed the first goal of the night with five minutes left in the period. Less than a minute later, the Sun Devils found themselves on the first power play of the night, but were unable to convert on the advantage.
Second Period
Two minutes into the second period, ASU found themselves in the penalty box but were able to return to full strength unscathed. The Sun Devils closed off the period 3-for-3 on the penalty kill after two back-to-back penalties.
Third Period
ASU came out hot to start the third period. Kyle Smolen and Benji Eckerle put in work around the Omaha net to help Ryan O'Reilly find the back of the net high-glove side off a rebounded shot by Eckerle to even up the game at 1-1.
Overtime
Three-on-three hockey commenced once more at Mullett Arena. In the midst of a transition, Lukas Sillinger found Kyle Smolen as he was coming off the bench unguarded. Smolen then went on the breakaway and was able to slot home the game-winner, crowning the Sun Devils as the 2024 Desert Hockey Classic champions.
QUOTABLES:
Arizona State Head Coach Greg Powers
On the last two weekends:
"Any time you can win a trophy in college hockey, it's a big thing and you're proud to do two in two weeks and then finally win our own tournament. It's a big accomplishment for our players, so we're really proud of them… We're gonna get back to work with a big series ahead against Cornell."
On the margin of error for the team:
"There's not, our record is 16-3-5 and that's a great record. We've lost three games in 24 games. That's it. It speaks volumes of the resiliency of our group and our kids, they just find ways to win. Yeah, they gotta be on in every game and they're bought into it. They understand that we've gotten this far and they want to keep punching through that wall until we get into that tournament."
On TJ Semptimphelter's performance:
"He's just steady. He makes the big saves. He made five or six huge saves tonight. They held him to a goal. He did his part and the guys that pulled through for him, obviously, we found a way."
Arizona State Forward Kyle Smolen:
On being able to protect home ice this weekend and winning the Desert Hockey Classic:
"It feels really good to get that done for all the guys that have been around for all the losses in this tournament. It just makes me so happy that we're able to finally get it done especially for Coach Powers who's built this program to finally win the tournament. There's no better feeling than that."
On what he saw on his game-winning goal:
"I saw Sillinger cutting across the ice and I was uncovered. I saw the puck coming and I just kept telling myself not to miss the pass. That's the only thing you gotta do and then you'll figure it out after that. No worse feeling in the world than having the puck go past you on a breakaway in overtime. After that it was muscle memory, I did a double-move and it ended up working out."
Arizona State Forward Lukas Sillinger:
On winning the Desert Hockey Classic:
"It's special any time you play for a trophy. It's something to build off of coming off back to back weekends with a trophy. It's something that'll pick us up."
Arizona State Goaltender TJ Semptimphelter:
On the emotions of getting the win and winning the tournament:
"Yes it's actually kind of surprising. We've had a really good team for awhile, I'm surprised we haven't won it before. But he told us that we're really excited for it to be our first and I think that game speaks for how relentless this group is. That's kind of been our identity all year long. There's no mountain too high for us to climb and even throughout this game we always felt like we were going to come out with the win. You could feel it in the locker room and on the bench so it's a matter of time before things started going our way."
On how physical Omaha was tonight:
"I think we talked about it after the game I think a big momentum shift was after our penalty kill had to back-to-back kills and you could tell the game kind of flipped from there. You got a lot of momentum when the kill's doing well. I think the guys feed off of that, we got a couple really big blocks out of our defense. That's really all it is and I think our forwards and the rest of our team really picked it up and took it to them."
It was the O'Reilly and Smolen show this weekend as the pair combined for seven points in two games. Smolen recorded his second game-winner in a row and was responsible for four total points (3G, 1A) and O'Reilly contributed three (3G).
TJ Semptimphelter came up with several big saves throughout the night to keep the Sun Devils in the game, tallying 26. After ASU's win over Harvard on Friday night, Semptimphelter owns the sole fourth place spot for best goalie winning percentage in the nation.
The Sun Devils went back-to-back on holiday tournament wins after beating Cornell in a shootout to claim the Adirondack Winter Invitational championship last weekend. The team has now gone undefeated for 10 straight games. ASU has not lost in regulation since November 26.
DESERT HOCKEY CLASSIC CHAMPIONS ??#BeTheTradition /// #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/ozCCDcoYRV
— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) January 7, 2024
UP NEXT: ASU welcomes No. 16 Cornell to Tempe next weekend for their second meeting this season. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. MST on Friday night and 5 p.m. MST on Saturday night 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.
GAME NOTABLES
- The Sun Devils are now 8-0-2 at Mullett Arena in overtime games since Oct. 2022.
- ASU remains undefeated at home against Omaha (3-0-0).
- It's the first time Omaha has lost a game going into the third period with a lead this season. The Mavericks were 6-0-1 in such games this season.
- In fact, ASU is now 6-0-3 when opponents score first this season.
- To add, the Maroon & Gold are now 4-0-4 this season when trailing after the second period.
- Brandon Tabakin is +23 so far this season, ranking first in the nation.
- Ryan O'Reilly netted the equalizer with his fifth goal of the season and his third goal in the past two games.
- Kyle Smolen managed to record his fifth assist of the season on O'Reilly's goal, his fourth point of the weekend and second assist in the last two games.
- ASU is 9-2-2 this season when Semptimphelter records 25+ saves in a game.
- ASU has not lost in regulation since Nov. 26 where they lost to No. 9 Providence.
How fun is this kid to watch?! ??@kyle_smolen /// #BeTheTradition pic.twitter.com/UZcJnStxYv
— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) January 7, 2024
PERIOD BREAKDOWN
First Period
ASU and Omaha both came out hot to start the championship game going end-to-end in a showcase of physicality. Omaha claimed the first goal of the night with five minutes left in the period. Less than a minute later, the Sun Devils found themselves on the first power play of the night, but were unable to convert on the advantage.
Second Period
Two minutes into the second period, ASU found themselves in the penalty box but were able to return to full strength unscathed. The Sun Devils closed off the period 3-for-3 on the penalty kill after two back-to-back penalties.
Third Period
ASU came out hot to start the third period. Kyle Smolen and Benji Eckerle put in work around the Omaha net to help Ryan O'Reilly find the back of the net high-glove side off a rebounded shot by Eckerle to even up the game at 1-1.
Overtime
Three-on-three hockey commenced once more at Mullett Arena. In the midst of a transition, Lukas Sillinger found Kyle Smolen as he was coming off the bench unguarded. Smolen then went on the breakaway and was able to slot home the game-winner, crowning the Sun Devils as the 2024 Desert Hockey Classic champions.
QUOTABLES:
Arizona State Head Coach Greg Powers
On the last two weekends:
"Any time you can win a trophy in college hockey, it's a big thing and you're proud to do two in two weeks and then finally win our own tournament. It's a big accomplishment for our players, so we're really proud of them… We're gonna get back to work with a big series ahead against Cornell."
On the margin of error for the team:
"There's not, our record is 16-3-5 and that's a great record. We've lost three games in 24 games. That's it. It speaks volumes of the resiliency of our group and our kids, they just find ways to win. Yeah, they gotta be on in every game and they're bought into it. They understand that we've gotten this far and they want to keep punching through that wall until we get into that tournament."
On TJ Semptimphelter's performance:
"He's just steady. He makes the big saves. He made five or six huge saves tonight. They held him to a goal. He did his part and the guys that pulled through for him, obviously, we found a way."
Arizona State Forward Kyle Smolen:
On being able to protect home ice this weekend and winning the Desert Hockey Classic:
"It feels really good to get that done for all the guys that have been around for all the losses in this tournament. It just makes me so happy that we're able to finally get it done especially for Coach Powers who's built this program to finally win the tournament. There's no better feeling than that."
On what he saw on his game-winning goal:
"I saw Sillinger cutting across the ice and I was uncovered. I saw the puck coming and I just kept telling myself not to miss the pass. That's the only thing you gotta do and then you'll figure it out after that. No worse feeling in the world than having the puck go past you on a breakaway in overtime. After that it was muscle memory, I did a double-move and it ended up working out."
Arizona State Forward Lukas Sillinger:
On winning the Desert Hockey Classic:
"It's special any time you play for a trophy. It's something to build off of coming off back to back weekends with a trophy. It's something that'll pick us up."
Arizona State Goaltender TJ Semptimphelter:
On the emotions of getting the win and winning the tournament:
"Yes it's actually kind of surprising. We've had a really good team for awhile, I'm surprised we haven't won it before. But he told us that we're really excited for it to be our first and I think that game speaks for how relentless this group is. That's kind of been our identity all year long. There's no mountain too high for us to climb and even throughout this game we always felt like we were going to come out with the win. You could feel it in the locker room and on the bench so it's a matter of time before things started going our way."
On how physical Omaha was tonight:
"I think we talked about it after the game I think a big momentum shift was after our penalty kill had to back-to-back kills and you could tell the game kind of flipped from there. You got a lot of momentum when the kill's doing well. I think the guys feed off of that, we got a couple really big blocks out of our defense. That's really all it is and I think our forwards and the rest of our team really picked it up and took it to them."