TEMPE – Sun Devil Hockey (3-5-1, 1-1-1) pulled off a stunning three-goal comeback to steal two points in conference play against Colorado College (5-3-1, 0-2-1) on Friday night at Mullett Arena. After allowing three goals in the first period, Arizona State rallied back to send fans home happy in a 3-3 shootout victory.
The three stars shined bright in maroon and gold as forwards Jack Beck, Bennett Schimek and Cruz Lucius worked off each other to help the Sun Devils claw back, each netting a goal in their multi-point efforts. The trio combined for eight of nine Sun Devil points on the evening, including shootout goals from Beck and Lucius.
Sun Devil special teams had a stellar evening, as the power play unit for ASU cashed in to go 2-for-4 on the man advantage. In just six shots on the power play, two of which found the back of the net for the Sun Devils.
Freshman goaltender Sam Urban recorded his third start of the season, notching 34 saves and a 91.8 save percentage in the contest. This was Urban’s second outing with 30+ saves this season.
GAME NOTABLES:
- Jack Beck recorded his first multi-point game as a Sun Devil his first action at Mullett Arena
- Bennett Schimek recorded his second game of the season and fifth time in his career with 3+ points (1G, 2A).
- Schimek tallied his 50th point as a Sun Devil with the third period goal
- The Sun Devils are now 4-0-1 when Schimek records 3+ points
- His three point night also marked his fifth multi-point game of the season
- Cruz Lucius has remained on a tear of late, notching his sixth straight game with at least one point, as he's now logged four multi-point outings in the streak.
- In the six game streak, Lucius has now tallied up 11 points (7G, 4A) in the process.
- His second-period goal marked the 90th point of his career between his time at ASU and Wisconsin
- The trio of Lucius-Schimek-Beck combined for eight of the team’s nine points, including two shootout goals from Beck and Lucius
- Forward Johnny Waldron played in his 100th career NCAA game between his time at Miami and ASU.
- Tonight’s result marked the first tie since Oct. 12, 2024 against Michigan. The Sun Devils have won eight straight shootouts dating back to October. 28, 2023.
- Brasen Boser recorded his first point of the season with the game-tying assist.
PERIOD BY PERIOD BREAKDOWN
First Period
The Sun Devils fell behind early in the contest allowing back to back goals in the ninth minute of play. Colorado College extended the lead with six minutes left on a power play goal with six minutes left in the period.
Second Period
The Sun Devils controlled possession for much of the period which included three power play opportunities. While ASU was unsuccessful on their first man advantage, a slick feed from Cruz Lucius through the slot found Jack Beck who put the Sun Devils on the board with six minutes remaining in the period. Just two minutes later, Lucius took advantage of another power play by sniping the top right corner on a wristshot from the right faceoff circle to make it 3-2 heading into the third.
Third Period
Trailing by a goal, it was the goaltending of Sam Urban that kept ASU in the game as the freshman netminder notched 12 saves in the period. With less than two minutes left and the net empty for the Sun Devils, Bennett Schimek lit the lamp to even the score and send the game into overtime.
Overtime
The overtime period saw back and forth action with several big chances and even better saves. After five minutes of 3-on-3 hockey and still no victor, the Sun Devils sent fans home happy with a 2-0 shootout win thanks to goals from Beck and Lucius.
QUOTABLES
Arizona State Head Coach Greg Powers
Opening Statement:
“We're going to take away the silver lining here. It was the same kind of downward spiral that we experienced at Miami with a really bad first period and one mistake became two, which then became three. They were really good and we were really bad. Our goalie held us in it, when we were down 3-0. Our guys found their game and as embarrassed as I was about our effort in the first, I'm even more proud of how we came back and found a way to get two points tonight. So I’m really proud of the guys.”
On whether the comeback showed the intensity he wants more of:
“Yes, we have to find a way to string together 60 minutes like that, and when we do, hopefully it's tomorrow, we are going to be a really good team. It's all in the experiences, so this team has gone through so many different experiences through nine games, it’s crazy. We got to use them to our advantage, and tonight we did. They pulled out of a funk in a major way, it was a bad first period and credit to Colorado College, they really took it to us more than any team has all year. They came out, punched us in the mouth, and we punched right back. The power play was good, we got some good looks there, and got the job done for us tonight. I think the two biggest areas of improvement that I wanted to see coming into the weekend were the timely saves, which we got, and then the power play coming through for us and both did.”
On what the message was to the team in the first intermission:
“It wasn't even screaming or yelling. It literally couldn’t be any worse than that and we looked like a team that was lifeless and thought just because we were back at Mullett after almost a month that it was going to just magically be easy. What's crazy is that the first five minutes were pretty good. I thought we were the better team for five minutes and then they got one goal and it was just like what happened at Miami, you blinked and then they had three goals. So we have to find a way to have that next shift mentality and stop momentum and get momentum back before it gets away from us. Our biggest issue in the first was just managing pucks. It wasn't even poor decisions, it was like the puck was a grenade and our guys didn't want it. It was all over the place. We just had really bad, sloppy, uncharacteristic puck touches. But I'm so proud of how they collectively snapped out of it. Not just by going into that second period, and getting those two power play goals there, but it was also because we were out working, we were winning races, we were winning battles, we started moving our feet and got pucks in behind them and played the way we needed to play to have success. We earned those power plays and we capitalized on them. So it was a really good team effort to get back in that game.”
On what he thought of the energy down the stretch:
“I thought it was good, Colorado College is a really good team. We didn't play a poor third, but I'd like to see a little bit more desperation and urgency before we pull the goalie, but you take away the power play. I didn't feel like they had too many chances there in the third, and it was just kind of a stagnant period both ways. It was a tale of two periods, they completely dominated us in the first. I thought we flipped the script and tilted the ice pretty well on them in the second. It was a resilient way to tie it up and I’m happy for them and proud of our guys. It's a great two points we were able to get, getting any points in this league is tough, and tonight we got two, and tomorrow we’re going to try and get three.”
Arizona State Goaltender Sam Urban
On his mindset during the game:
“I try to stay positive, look on the board and think it's 0-0…I try to make those big saves that brought me back into the game. I try to stay positive and give the team a chance to win the game.”
Arizona State Forward Freshman Jack Beck:
On first game at Mullett Arena:
“Didn't get off the start we wanted as a team, but once we saw the student section and everyone getting rowdy, and Greg (Powers) had a good speech in between the 1st and 2nd, it fired us up… we want them to show up, we want them to be there, supporting us, and we wanted to give them a little bit of a show…It’s nice to finally see how much the student section embraces it, and they love it, that's a huge reason why we came back tonight, with the crowd and the fans getting into it.”
UP NEXT
Puck drop slated for 5 p.m. MST, Arizona State faces off against Colorado College in the series finale.