Arizona State hockey dominates Arizona in season opener

TEMPE, Ariz. — Prior to the Arizona State hockey 2023 season opener, head coach Greg Powers emphasized the importance of a home-ice advantage.

“We want the mentality, where you come in here, and we’re dropping a steel cage,” Powers said. “And you better be ready.”

The steel cage was dropped on the unsuspecting Wildcats early on in Arizona State’s opening night matchup against Arizona. Just 10 minutes into the first period, ASU boasted a 3-0 lead over their rivals from that city down south.

Arizona goaltender Niklas Seppänen stood on the Arizona side of the ice all alone. The rest of his teammates were down on the other end attacking, a rare occurrence in tonight’s game.

“It’s all your fault! It’s all your fault!”  The sold-out and hostile student section chanted. A few minutes later, Arizona players skated onto the ice after a break in the action. All of them looked lifeless, completely demoralized by the Sun Devils on the ice, and in the stands.

Arizona State would go on to win 16-0 and gave the Wildcats a quiet bus ride back to Tucson.

Arizona State hockey dismantles Arizona

The first period

The scoring came fast and early for the Sun Devils. In the first five minutes of the match, Arizona State got off seven shots and scored one of them. Nearly the whole first five minutes were spent on Arizona’s defensive side of the ice, and eventually senior forward Alex Young cashed in.

That was just the start.

Less than 25 seconds after their first goal, the Sun Devils struck again.

Josh Niedermayer put a puck in the back of the net, off assists from Matthew Kopperud and Tim  Lovell.

That was shortly followed up by a beautiful sequence conducted by transfer Tyler Gratton. Gratton despite being in his first season as a Sun Devil, was unanimously elected to be a team captain.

At media availability this past week, his coaches and teammates raved about his leadership and talent. On this sequence, Gratton had a nice look at the net. Instead of taking a shot, he faked the shot and took an extra touch. Then he effortlessly passed the puck across the ice to teammate Kyle Smolen who finished the play with a goal.

Just like that it was 3-0, Arizona State.

That was just the beginning of things to come for the Wildcats. Matthew Kopperud, Benji Eckerle, and Lukas Sillinger added goals for Arizona State in the first period.

When the horn sounded, it was 6-0 Sun Devils at the end of the first period.

Not ideal for the ACHA team from Tucson trying to shock the state.

The second period

The second period was a lot like the first. Less than a minute into the period, Tony Achille scored off an assist from Ethan Szamgaj.

7-0 Sun Devils and any thought of a fresh start that Arizona had was gone.

The flurry of goals in the duel for the desert continued.

Dylan Jackson, Ryan Alexander, Cole Helm, and Tyler Gratton all added goals for the Sun Devils in the second period.

Gratton, Achille, Szmagaj, Smolen, and Cade Alami all added assists.

Arizona State entered the final period of action up 11-0, an absurd amount. The general thought going around Mullett Arena was that it has to slow down at some point… right?

Wrong.

The third period

Arizona State started the third period slow, compared to the rest of the night. The first Sun Devil goal of the period came just under eight minutes in.

Gratton scored another goal, bringing his total to two. He finished the night with two goals and two assists. Not bad for his first time donning a Sun Devil uniform.

Tucker Ness and Neidermayer assisted Gratton on the goal.

The floodgates opened back up. Arizona State scored four more goals in the last 12 minutes of the match, including two in the last two minutes.

With about two minutes left in the match, the Arizona State student section convinced some of the game operators that ASU had scored another goal.

The Sun Devils got their 69th shot on goal with 1:57 left in the match, and fans (particularly the student section) erupted. The horn went off and lights flashed, leaving Wildcats on ice confused.

That was probably the loudest the crowd had been in the blowout since the first period.

Arizona State’s last goal came with 30 seconds left, as the Sun Devils kept pouring it on.

Charlie Schoen, Ness, Ryan O’Reilly, and Smolen all scored in the third period. David Hymovitch, Neidermayer, and Jackson added on assists.

Arizona State won by a remarkable 16 goals and shut out Arizona. The Sun Devils had 72 shots on net, compared to Arizona’s 19. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a more dominant showing on the ice.

Looking ahead for Arizona State hockey

While it’s important to note that Arizona is a club team compared to Arizona State hockey being Division 1, when taking in the results. But it’s also important to note that it’s easy for a Division 1 team to overlook a club team and come out flat. Especially when this is arguably the biggest match of the season for Arizona.

“There’s always hope,” Powers said after the game. “There’s no way that every kid on that team didn’t envision what it would be like to come in here and get a win.”

The Sun Devils flattened any hope the Wildcats had early on and handled business. Unfortunately for Arizona State, the rest of the season won’t be this easy.

“The average college sports fan’s probably not gonna know who Merrimack is,” Powers continued. “Merrimack is a great college hockey program. That’s why they’re ranked in the top 15, they’re an NCAA tournament team that returns most of their team from last year. They lost in overtime in the hockey finals, they are very, very good.”

Arizona State welcomes Merrimack to Mullett for games on Oct. 13 and 14.

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