LOWELL, Mass. – Behind a career-high 42-save performance from sophomore goaltender Samuel Urban and goals from four different skaters, Sun Devil Hockey (4-2-0) completed its first road series sweep since the 2024-25 season with a 4-2 victory over UMass Lowell (1-3-0) on Saturday night at the Tsongas Center.
The victory marked Arizona State's third consecutive win and second under head coach Dave Hakstol, who is now 2-0-0 since taking over behind the Sun Devil bench. Urban turned aside 42 of 44 shots, including 16 saves in each of the first two periods, to help the Sun Devils secure their first road series sweep since Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2025.
Richard Baran, Nathan Behm, Filip Nordberg and Ben Muthersbaugh each found the back of the net for ASU, while Muthersbaugh added an assist to finish with a team-high two points. Both Baran and Nordberg recorded their first collegiate goals in the win.
Freshman forward Nathan Behm continued his impressive start to the season, scoring his fourth goal through six games as he leads all NCAA Division I freshmen in goals scored. Fellow freshman Jonas Woo added an assist on Behm's second-period power-play goal, bringing his season total to six points (1G, 5A).
The Sun Devils also continued their success on special teams, converting one of three power-play opportunities while holding the River Hawks scoreless on all four of their chances. ASU improved to 4-0-0 this season when scoring a power-play goal and has a 95.8% success rate on the penalty kill.
ASU will enjoy a bye week before opening NCHC conference play with a two-game road series at St. Cloud State on Oct. 30-31.
Game Notes
- Sophomore goaltender Sam Urban recorded a career-high 42 saves on 44 shots, surpassing his previous career best of 40 saves against North Dakota on Jan. 24, 2026.
- ASU completed its first road series sweep since Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2025 (at Miami), and extended its winning streak to three games.
- Head coach Dave Hakstol improved to 2-0-0 behind the Sun Devil bench after earning his first collegiate victory since March 28, 2015, in Friday night's series opener.
- Richard Baran recorded his first collegiate goal, while Filip Nordberg scored his first goal of the season.
- Sophomore forward Daniel Shlaine extended his career-high point streak to six games with an assist on Baran's first-period goal. Shlaine has recorded six points (4G, 2A) through ASU's first six contests.
- ASU’s penalty kill finished a perfect 4-for-4, while the power play converted once in three opportunities.
- ASU has scored 26 goals through its first six games of the season, averaging 4.33 goals per contest.
- The Sun Devils improved to 4-0-0 when scoring a power-play goal this season.
Period-by-Period
First Period
Baran and the Sun Devils opened the scoring just 3:22 into the first period, with Daniel Shlaine and Ben Kevan collecting assists. Urban made 16 saves in the opening frame to preserve the Sun Devils' 1-0 advantage heading into the first intermission.
Second Period
UMass Lowell evened the contest at 1-1 1:35 into the second period The Sun Devils responded late in the frame, beginning with Behm's power-play goal at 16:27 off assists from Woo and Muthersbaugh to regain the lead.
Nordberg extended ASU's advantage to 3-1 with 13 seconds remaining in the second period to give the Sun Devils a two-goal cushion entering the final frame.
Third Period
The River Hawks cut the deficit to 3-2 at 3:04 of the period, but ASU responded with Muthersbaugh’s third goal of the season at 9:34 off an assist from Cade Littler, restoring the two-goal advantage.
Urban turned aside 10 shots in the final frame as the Sun Devils held on to secure the 4-2 victory and complete the weekend sweep.
Quotes
Head Coach Dave Hakstol
On Samuel Urban’s performance
“Tonight, we saw in full display the battle level that Urbs (Samuel Urban) has. A lot of it obviously comes down to skill and ability, but sometimes, even as a goaltender, I think we look past their competitive level, their willingness to meet things nose to nose. I thought Urbs did that this weekend, and for sure at times tonight, he was really important.”
On the team’s resilience
“For sure, tonight had its challenges, but I sure like the way we reacted. That's a pretty good hockey team over there. They pushed us and pushed hard. We got through the first 10, 12 minutes of that [second] period, and then we were able to take advantage of the power play. It takes a little bit of presence to go out and take advantage of the power play when you've been defending for the better part of the last 10 minutes, and our guys did that.”
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