Sun Devil Hockey adds another trophy

TEMPE, Ariz. — Another weekend and another trophy for Sun Devil Hockey. ASU hosted the Desert Hockey Classic this weekend at Mullett Arena. The tournament paired up the Sun Devils with three other schools Along with ASU the teams included were UMass Lowell, Harvard, and Nebraska-Omaha.

Sun Devil Hockey adds another trophy

Coming into the weekend it looked like a tall mountain to climb for ASU having to play Harvard first. Harvard is a powerhouse program in D1 hockey with multiple draft selections each year. However, the Crimson are having a little bit of a down season after losing 10 of their starters to the NHL, and that showed this weekend.

Arizona State vs Harvard

ASU this season has had someone of an issue in playing to the level of their opponent. Knowing that Harvard is having a down year the Devils needed to get out of the gate quickly and put Harvard in their rearview. That’s exactly what they did.

The chances may have been strong early, but it took the Sun Devils 13 minutes to get on the board, this goal courtesy of Cole Gordon. The freshman has been in and out of the ASU lineup all season long, and he began the scoring for the Sun Devils.

The lead did not last as long, however. Harvard responded just three minutes later to notch the game at one apiece.

Late in the first period, it appeared as though the teams would head to the locker room tied. Kyle Smolen for the Sun Devils had different plans.

Smolen decided to push the pace late in the period and caught the Crimson napping when he passed it to Ryan O’Reilly who scored with just .1 seconds remaining in the period.

O’Reilly was not done for the night as he came out of the gates in the second period and fired a ripper into the back of the net to put the Devils lead at two.

ASU would allow one more goal but it was a pair of Kyle Smolen goals in period three that put the Devils over the top capping off an impressive 5-3 win over Harvard.

With the win, ASU would play for the trophy against a very physical Nebraska-Omaha team.

The championship – Arizona State vs Nebraska-Omaha.

The championship of the Desert Hockey Classic was on the line, and the energy at Mullett Arena represented the intensity on the ice. Nebraska-Omaha had a great number of fans travel for the game making the atmosphere a ruckus one.

The game started very slow as both teams laid back and elected to feel things out. Like a Cobra waiting to strike.

Most of the first period was played in the neutral zone until the last five minutes of the period. Just before the 15-minute mark of the first period, Omaha’s Tanner Ludtke threw one into the net that went past ASU net-minder TJ Semptimphelter.

Omaha would hold onto the lead for the remainder of the period and take the lead into the locker room.

The second period was night and day compared to period one.

Both teams came out extremely physical and hard hitting setting up an exciting 20 minutes of play. With the physicality on the ice, neither team got any solid chance and the period flew past in the blink of an eye.

The third period of play was one of the more exciting 20 minutes of ASU’s season so far.

Just two minutes into the period, O’Reilly ripped the puck passed Mavericks goalie Latkoczy tying the game at one apiece. As I mentioned earlier O’Reilly had two goalies the night prior so this was his third of the weekend.

The remainder of the period was filled with spectacular chances from both sides and even better saves from both goalies. Both net-minders had arguably their best games of the season on the stat sheet and the quality of saves.

Due to the amazing goaltending, the game would head for overtime. Sun Devil Hockey is no stranger to overtime.

Late-game theatrics for Sun Devil Hockey

During a quick line change, the Mavericks were caught napping when Charlie Smolen came off the bench behind the defense and scored on a breakaway.

ASU would beat Omaha 2-1 and win their second straight in-season tournament. ASU is now 16-3-5 on the season and making a statement to the committee to start the second half of the season.

The Sun Devils host Cornell at home next weekend, a team they just beat for a trophy last weekend.

Thank you for reading Sun Devil Daily! Follow us on Twitter to stay up to date with Arizona State news! For feedback, questions, concerns, or to apply for a writing position, please email our Managing Editor at brendonpricco@gmail.com. Also, make sure to check out the Sun Devil Daily shop for merchandise! Forks up!