LOWELL, Mass. – Sun Devil Hockey opened the Dave Hakstol era in winning fashion Friday night as freshman forward Lukas Sawchyn buried the game-winning goal with just 2:23 remaining in regulation to lift Arizona State (3-2-0) to a 5-4 victory over UMass Lowell (1-2-0) at the Tsongas Center on Friday night.
The win marked Hakstol's first win behind the Sun Devil bench and his first at the collegiate level since March 28, 2015, during his tenure at North Dakota. ASU secured its second consecutive victory after jumping out to an early 3-0 advantage before holding off a late Lowell rally, with Sawchyn's first NCAA goal ultimately proving to be the difference.
The Sun Devils saw three different players find the back of the net for the first time in their NCAA career’s, as freshmen Landon Hafele and Sawchyn each recorded their first collegiate goals, while junior forward Jack O'Brien added his first NCAA goal as well. Sophomore forward Daniel Shlaine continued his impressive start to the season with his team-leading fourth goal to open the scoring, while sophomore Jack Beck added a power-play tally for his second goal in as many games.
Sawchyn and Beck each turned in a two-point performance, while sophomore goaltender Samuel Urban turned aside 33 shots to earn the win.
Senior captain Kyle Smolen also reached a career milestone, becoming the 10th player in program history to record 70 career points with an assist on Hafele's first-period goal.
The Sun Devils return to the Tsongas Center on Saturday, Oct. 17, looking to secure their first road series sweep since Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2025. Puck drop is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. MST, with the contest available on ESPN+ and Fox Sports 910 AM.
Game Notes
- Head coach Dave Hakstol earned his first victory behind the Sun Devil bench in his ASU debut, marking his first collegiate win since March 28, 2015, during his tenure at North Dakota.
- Freshmen Landon Hafele and Lukas Sawchyn each scored their first collegiate goals, while junior Jack O'Brien also recorded his first NCAA goal after spending 2025-26 in the ECHL.
- Sophomore forward Daniel Shlaine extended his point streak to a career-high five games with his team-leading fourth goal of the season against UMass Lowell. Shlaine has recorded five points (4G, 1A) through ASU's first five contests.
- Senior captain Kyle Smolen became the 10th player in program history to reach 70 career points with an assist on Hafele's first-period goal. Smolen now has 29 career goals and 41 assists, sitting just one goal shy of becoming the fourth Sun Devil to reach 30 career goals.
- Four Sun Devil freshmen have combined for 15 points (6G, 9A) through the first five games of the season, led by Jonas Woo and Landon Hafele with five points apiece, followed by Nathan Behm (3) and Lukas Sawchyn (2).
- Hafele and Woo are tied for third among all NCAA Division I freshmen with five points apiece through the first five games.
- Sophomore defenseman Lincoln Kuehne registered his second assist of the season, setting a new career high after recording one in 2025-26.
- ASU scored five or more goals for the fourth time in five games this season.
- The Sun Devils 22 goals in five games comes in as the fourth-most in the country.
- ASU improved to 3-0-0 when scoring a power-play goal this season.
Period-by-Period
First Period
The Sun Devils wasted little time getting on the board as Daniel Shlaine netted his team-leading fourth goal of the season just 2:29 into the contest. Landon Hafele followed with his first collegiate goal at 6:56, before Jack O'Brien extended the lead to 3-0 with his first goal as a Sun Devil at 15:55.
UMass Lowell responded with two goals in the final three minutes of the period, cutting ASU's advantage to 3-2 entering the first intermission.
Second Period
Jack Beck extended ASU’s lead to 4-2 with a power-play goal at 17:51, his second goal in as many games following his overtime winner against Holy Cross on Oct. 10. Samuel Urban turned aside all 13 shots he faced in the period to preserve the Sun Devils' two-goal advantage heading into the final frame.
Third Period
The River Hawks pulled within one at 6:16, but freshman Lukas Sawchyn buried his first collegiate goal at 17:37 to give ASU a 5-3 advantage.
UMass Lowell answered with a 6-on-5 goal with 44 seconds remaining, but the Sun Devils held on to secure the 5-4 victory in Hakstol's debut behind the bench.
Quotes
Head Coach Dave Hakstol
On returning to college hockey and joining Arizona State
“Walking into the room with this group of guys yesterday really solidified in my mind how great of an opportunity this is. This is a tremendous group of guys, and typically you find that throughout college hockey. There's nothing easy about, and there's certainly nothing typical about, the timing of this. But like I said, walking into the room yesterday, I felt really good about it. I'm going to enjoy this process, and that's a big part of it.”
On the team’s level of compete through the contest
“Great compete level. Not a completely clean game, some momentum pushes against us, but that's the first thing that I look for, is how guys handle situations. Some of the poise when we're put under pressure, the ability to push back when that opportunity is there and do it smart. We did some of those things tonight. We did some things that we have to clean up, some things that we can address ourselves immediately, and then there's other things that we have to work through over time and build into our game.”
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