(Photo: Marina Williams)
TEMPE — Arizona State has found itself falling short by the slimmest of margins to start the 2025-26 season. Whether it was untimely penalties, tough bounces, or even putting the puck in its own net. Against No. 20 Colorado College Saturday night, the story was no different. Saturday’s game was a game of momentum swings, and the Tigers won the battle.
“It stings. You look at our record, six losses, and all six we’ve had the goalie pulled. It’s really frustrating because we know it could easily be flipped,” ASU coach Greg Powers said of the season so far.
In Saturday’s 3-1 loss, the Sun Devils lost by what, at face value, looks like a very close battle. ASU and Colorado College were virtually tied in shots, penalties, and even the faceoff battle.
“I didn’t have a problem with how we played,” Powers said. “I don’t think we played poorly at all. I thought we played well.”
However, ASU’s loss stems from a problem that has been evident all season long: its inability to weather the storm when momentum is lost. In Saturday’s game, ASU started off the first period strong, having 2 of the biggest chances of the entire period, with a 2-on-1 breakaway from freshman forward Jack Beck and sophomore forward Cullen Potter, along with a 1-on-1 miss from freshman forward Sam Alfano.
That momentum quickly flipped in the middle of the second period. Following a sequence of intense power-play pressure for the Tigers and a few blocked shots by ASU, freshman goaltender Samuel Urban made a big pad save that deflected right out to Tigers forward Tomas Mrsic, who buried the shot into the wide-open net. One minute and 13 seconds later, the Tigers got another goal when defenseman Fisher Scott’s shot from the blue line deflected in off Sun Devil defenseman Anthony Dowd through the legs of Urban.
“It was tough to get [the momentum] back because we took a couple penalties and they got some momentum,” Powers said.
The second period started off as a disaster for ASU, as it found itself on the penalty kill for almost half the opening ten minutes of the period. As the period went on, ASU found itself unable to gain momentum back, leading to the two goals that put the Sun Devils in the loss column.
[Staying out of the penalty box] is really important,” Powers said. “We started off the period well, and then again, we took a penalty in the offensive zone because we missed the bobbled puck.”
In Friday’s game, ASU had similar struggles, giving up two goals in 50 seconds to go down 2-0 early in the first period. Against Miami last weekend, ASU allowed a trio of goals in a five and a half minute span, losing the lead after being up 2-1.
Even going back to its season-opening series against Penn State, when it rains, it pours for the Sun Devils. After going up 3-2 in the first game, ASU conceded four unanswered goals to lose 6-3. In the Augustana series, ASU started off the opener up by two goals, but found itself losing 4-2.
Momentum shifts have been the struggle for ASU, and have been one of the main reasons it has lost six very close games so far this season. In four of their six losses this season, the Sun Devils have given up the lead on a run of unanswered goals.
“We’ll start winning these really close games,” Potter said. “Last year, I think we won a lot of those games, and that’s what made us so good in those big moments. We found a way, and we need to start doing that.”
Another reason the Sun Devils have been unable to take momentum after giving up a goal is the lack of continuous pressure in the offensive zone. In Saturday’s loss, ASU was unable to enter the offensive zone in the middle of the second period, which led to the second goal, ultimately ending as the losing goal.
“I think the biggest thing is just stacking shifts. Keeping them hemmed in the zone. I think [Friday], in the second period, they had like two shots, and that’s just because we were just consistently in the offensive zone and getting chances,” Potter said of how to fix ASU’s momentum problem.
Moving forward, ASU will need to find a way not to give up multiple unanswered goals in a row if it is going to have a chance to get back to the NCAA tournament for just the second time under Powers.
After the loss, ASU is now faced with a 3-6-1 record and has 5 conference points, with a 1-2-1 conference record. The Sun Devils will have a quick turnaround and will travel to take on No. 8 North Dakota next weekend.
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