TEMPE – Sun Devil Hockey completed a thrilling comeback against Holy Cross as sophomore forward Jack Beck sniped home the overtime game-winner to lift Arizona State to a 5-4 victory on Saturday afternoon at Mullett Arena.
TOP SHELF GAME OVER. https://t.co/ZpQTP0neHW
— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) October 11, 2026
Trailing 3-1 entering the third period, the Sun Devils rallied for three unanswered goals to take a late lead before ultimately securing the victory just 46 seconds into overtime. The win earned ASU a weekend split against Holy Cross and its first home victory of the 2026-27 season.
Freshman forward Nathan Behm sparked the comeback at 12:05 of the third period, sliding home a backhand goal on the power play to bring the Sun Devils within striking distance at 3-2.
Just 3:23 later, senior captain Kyle Smolen delivered the equalizer, netting his third goal of the season at 15:28 to bring ASU even at 3-3 and spur a huge momentum shift in the Sun Devils' favor.
With under two minutes remaining in regulation, Holy Cross was called for tripping, sending the Sun Devils back to the power play with an opportunity to complete the comeback.
Junior forward and alternate captain Ben Muthersbaugh answered the call, firing home his second goal of the season at 18:27 to give ASU a 4-3 lead and send the Mullett Arena crowd into a frenzy.
However, the Crusaders found a late equalizer with just 17 seconds remaining in regulation, tying the contest at 4-4 and forcing overtime.
After Holy Cross generated the first opportunity of the extra period, Beck delivered the finishing blow, going top shelf over the goaltender's blocker 46 seconds into overtime to secure the 5-4 victory and send the Sun Devils home with a Saturday afternoon win in front of the Mullett faithful.
Notes
- Beck's overtime winner improved the Sun Devils to a 16-5-5 overtime record at Mullett Arena.
- Smolen's 29th career goal moved him past Bennett Schimek (2024-26), Lukas Sillinger (2022-25) and Josh Doan (2021-23), with whom he entered the weekend tied for fourth in program history.
- The goal also marked his 69th career point, putting him on the cusp of 30 career goals and 70 points, all as a Sun Devil.
- ASU outshot Holy Cross, 75-37, over the two-game weekend series.
- Olivier Houde (1G, 1A), Rylan Brown (2A) and Jonas Woo (2A) each recorded multipoint performances.
- Houde's first-period goal marked the 15th goal and 30th point of his collegiate career between ASU and Lindenwood.
- The freshman trio of Landon Hafele, Woo and Behm has combined for 11 points through the team's first four games.
- The ASU penalty kill remains a perfect 14-for-14 this season after holding Holy Cross scoreless on its lone power-play opportunity Saturday.
- Sophomore forward Daniel Shlaine added an assist and has now registered four points (3G, 1A) through the team's first four games, tying a career-best four-game point streak.
- Sophomore goaltender Sam Hillebrandt earned the win in his Sun Devil debut, registering 13 saves in the contest.
- Junior forward Logan Morrell continued his dominance at the faceoff dot, winning 14 of 18 draws at a 77.8% clip.
Period-by-period breakdown
First period
The Sun Devils opened the scoring as Houde found the back of the net at 6:33 of the first period for his second goal of the season. Houde was assisted by Shlaine, who recorded his fourth point in as many games, and senior forward Sean McGurn. Holy Cross answered with a shorthanded goal in the final second of the opening period to tie the contest at 1-1.
Second period
The Crusaders took the lead at 15:00 of the second period and added another goal with 19 seconds remaining to take a 3-1 advantage into the final frame.
Third period
ASU cut the deficit to 3-2 with a power-play goal from Behm at 12:05 before Smolen buried a rebound in the crease to even the score with 4:32 remaining in regulation. Muthersbaugh then fired home a power-play goal at 18:27 to give the Sun Devils a 4-3 lead, but Holy Cross answered with an extra attacker on the ice at 19:43 to force overtime.
Overtime
Jack Beck ended the Crusaders' night just 46 seconds into the extra frame, burying the game-winner to complete the comeback and give the Sun Devils a 5-4 overtime victory.
Quotes
Assistant Coach Mike Corbett
On the message to the team after the game
“How proud I was of them. I went into the third period, and I challenged them. Obviously we're down 3 to 1, we were playing bad, but we made mistakes and they capitalized. I went in there and challenged them. They want to be coached hard, so I went in there and challenged the group and said I want to see what they're made of. They showed me what they're made of, and you're proud of that. It's easy to go the other way, and they didn't go the other way. They stuck with it and we just battled back.”
On the changes that were made to power plays
“We just needed to move the puck a little quicker. They were anticipating what we were doing and were trying to take away Muthersbaugh. They know that he's got the big shot, so they're flexing out a little bit quicker, and we tend to get the puck dusted off a few times, then make our pass. Their guy's already 3 ft out and then he's only got 3 or 4 more feet to get in our guy's face. By the time our guy catches the puck, somebody's in his face, and he's got to move it. It was just more of everything, being a little bit crisper and a little bit quicker. Then we ended up putting our bumper player down by the goal line to be a little bit more of a support; he was more active in our being able to put releases through the middle.”
Sophomore forward Jack Beck
On how it feels to win at home
“It was really nice showing how resilient we were in the third period. We were down 3-1, we got a good speech from Corbs in between periods and the boys came out and gave it their all for 20, there's nothing to leave it out there for. If we can do that for 60, we’ll be a pretty good team.
Freshman forward Nathan Behm
On his third-period goal:
“It was obviously a big goal to start the third and it got the momentum going. We were struggling a bit on the power play before that so it was nice to get a power play goal late in the game. That was just huge for the team and the power play as well.”
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