Arizona State Splits series with Bemidji State Following Loss in Game 2

Oh, how the tables have turned.

After Arizona State Men’s Hockey (1-3-0) shut out Bemidji State (1-1-0) 3-0 a night ago, the Sun Devils fell 5-4 in their second overtime loss of the season.

A high-scoring affair was the story of game two, with nine goals, triple what was scored only a night ago—this time not in Arizona State’s favor.

Bemidji State, while never going down a goal to the Sun Devils, never put the game away either. The Sun Devils railed back from a two-goal deficit and countered every BSU goal until an uncontrolled rebound in overtime was the dagger to the Sun Devils.

Arizona State ran the table in the shot department in overtime totaling six to counter Bemidji State’s four.

The Beavers got the final say when sophomore goalie TJ Semptimphelter coughed up a juicy rebound to fifth-year forward Mitchell Martan to recover and put past Semptimphelter. Semptimphelter had just gotten to his feet and had little chance to get down and make a save. The goal came with only 57 seconds left to play in OT.

Besides the OT goal that gave the Beavers the win; the contest went back and forth throughout the night, and the Sun Devils countered every goal the Beavers scored against them.

After a night that saw just three total goals in favor of Arizona State, tonight’s game flipped the script. Six total goals was how the first period opened up.

Semptimphelter shutout continued for a whole minute and 56 seconds into game two against Bemidji State as the Beavers struck iron first with a redirected shot from sophomore forward Alexander Ludman. Ludman read a pass to the slot perfectly from Martan beating senior defenseman Tanner Hickey and giving Bemidji State the early lead.

Less than two minutes later, the Beavers netted another goal to take a quick 2-0 lead. This time Jakub Lewandowski caught Semptimphelter out of position and made him pay, burying a pass from behind the net to extend the lead for the Beavers.

Arizona State wouldn’t let the Beavers’ lead last for long as they lit the lamp not once but twice in under two minutes. The first coming on the power play goal.

Junior Forward Matthew Kopperud was left wide open on the left circle (a spot that he has proven dangerous from in years past) and fired a shot over junior goalie Gavin Enright’s glove side as he sprawled out in an attempt to make a cross crease save.

Sophomore forward Josh Doan recorded the second goal for Arizona State as the puck caught a bounce off his skate and into the net, evening the score at two.

All this just in the first period, remind you.

BSU gained a power play late in the first period after senior defenseman Tanner Hickey was sent to the box for high sticking.

It didn’t take the Beavers long to answer on their first power play of the night, retaking the lead, 3-2.

Not going down without a fight, with less than a minute left to play in the first period, senior forward Robert Mastrosimone skated in two-on-two with Doan on his left and fired a shot from the right circle beating Enright glove side to tie the game 3-3. Another power play late for the Beavers came up empty but carried over to the second, where they did nothing with it.

A slower second period only amounted to a goal aside. Bemidji State took back the lead, “capitalizing” on their third power play of the night when Arizona State was penalized for too many men. BSU sophomore forward Jere Vaisanen was credited for the goal. Vaisanen attempted to pass across the slot to his teammate sitting on the doorstep when the pass was deflected top shelf over the blocker of Semptimphelter by Mastrosimone.

Arizona State’s commanding power play struck late, knotting the game back at four when Mastrosimone from the right circle again scored for his second of the night. A goal that could have given the Sun Devils the lead if Mastrosimone had not deflected in the goal earlier in the period.

A late major penalty in the third period to the Sun Devils’ junior forward Ty Jackson and a minor penalty to fifth-year forward Ross Amour for roughing late wound up in a four-on-four that turned into a power play for the Beavers for almost the remainder of the period.

The Sun Devils shut the Beavers’ attempts down on the power play late to send the game into overtime.

For being outshot 45 to 28, the Sun Devils batted toe-to-toe and countered every goal until the final one in OT, falling in a final score of 5-4.

After a tough road trip, the Sun Devils return home next weekend for their home opener in Mullett Arena to face Colgate for a two-game series – the first game is set for 7 p.m. MST on October 14.