(Photo Courtesy – Haley Spracale)
Arizona State Men’s Hockey (9-10) ended its series with New Hampshire (4-14-1) on a sour note, conceding the game-winner to Wildcats’ forward Charlie Stevenson with just 29 seconds elapsed in sudden-death overtime.
At the end of the first period, it didn’t seem like an extra frame would be required. An outstanding individual effort by junior forward Benji Eckerle resulted in his first goal of the season 2:28 into the opening frame.
But the 5-foot-10 center wasn’t finished creating scoring chances early on.
On the penalty kill late in the first, Eckerle stole the puck in the Wildcats’ zone before finding sophomore defenseman Ethan Szmagaj, who connected with graduate forward Demetrios Koumontzis for the Sun Devils’ second short-handed goal in as many games.
While penalties weren’t an issue for ASU during the first stanza, they would become more common and detrimental in the middle frame. The Sun Devils logged 19 penalty minutes during the second, a stark contrast to the six they were assessed throughout the rest of the contest.
Sophomore defenseman Ty Murchison alone accounted for 19 of ASU’s 25 penalty minutes. With 5:30 to play in the second, Murchison and UNH sophomore forward Conor Lovett were given coinciding minors after the two got into a shoving match.
Following a review by the officials, Murchison’s penalty was upgraded to a five-minute major and ten-minute misconduct for making contact with Lovett’s head, leaving the Sun Devils without half of their top defensive pairing.
After New Hampshire junior forward Nick Cafarelli cut the deficit in half under five minutes into the second, the Wildcats cashed in on the man advantage as Stevenson scored his first of the evening from a sharp angle, a strike that sophomore goaltender T.J. Semptimphelter would likely want back.
Saturday’s game was a difficult one for Semptimphelter. The Sun Devils’ No. 1 netminder relinquished five goals on 25 UNH shots for a .833 save percentage. However, Semptimphelter made some big saves when needed and stymied high-quality Wildcat scoring chances on multiple occasions.
Much like Friday’s game, UNH and ASU combined for a wild, back-and-forth third period. Senior forward Ryan Black got the fun started 2:15 into the frame before junior forward Lukas Sillinger responded five minutes later with his second goal of this weekend’s series.
New Hampshire freshman forward Cy LeClerc helped the home team regain the lead with 8:07 to play in the game. But recently, it seems the Sun Devils have a knack for scoring late goals. Two strikes inside the final five minutes during last month’s Minnesota series perfectly exemplify ASU’s ‘never quit’ mentality.
This mindset paid dividends for the Sun Devils on Saturday. With 4:28 left on the clock, junior forward Matthew Kopperud put home a loose puck for his second powerplay tally in as many games.
It wasn’t enough. Stevenson’s lit the lamp for the second time of the game with less than 30 seconds played in overtime to give New Hampshire its first victory since Oct. 21 against Army, snapping a 13-game losing streak.
The result also continued ASU’s struggles on the road. This season, the Sun Devils have a 3-8 record away from Mullett Arena and are 1-5 in their last six games as the visitors.
ASU will now have a 20-day break before returning to action against college hockey blueblood Boston College (6-5-4) on Dec. 30 at Mullett Arena.
