(Photo: Aspen Graham/WCSN)
TEMPE — At the beginning of the 2025-26 season, Arizona State and Ohio State were right where they wanted to be — ranked at No. 14 and No. 16, respectively. With early-season hopes high, the two schools’ series in late November was expected to have heavy NCAA tournament implications. However, one day after Thanksgiving, both teams are comfortably outside the top-20, and what was supposed to be a meeting of national contenders now feels like a do-or-die series as both teams look to rekindle their postseason pushes.
The Sun Devils (6-8-1, 3-4-1 NCHC) were able to continue their turkey day feast at Mullet Arena, toppling the Buckeyes (5-8-0, 1-5-0 Big Ten) 3-2 in an overtime thriller and important series opening win, as they look to go from flashes in the pan to gold as the mid-season mark approaches.
“It was a gritty, gutty win for us,” head coach Greg Powers said. “I felt like we deserved it.”
The Maroon and Gold are coming off two series splits against then-No. 6 North Dakota and then-No. 3 Denver, but they have not put the pieces together for a full weekend despite the moments of excellence. Friday night’s win was just the second time this season the Sun Devils claimed the first game of a series, but it didn’t come easily.
“We did a lot of really good things tonight,” Powers said. “We just couldn’t seem to find the back of the net. It felt like one of those games where we were doing a lot of things right, getting a lot of really good, grade A’s, and a lot of good looks. Their goalie made some big saves, and we missed some tap-ins, but we found a way.”
Heading into the third period down one, the Sun Devils were in need of some late-game life that had been absent all season long. The only time ASU was able to overcome its third-period woes and complete a comeback was against then No. 20 Colorado College, when senior forward Bennett Schimek’s last-minute heroics forced a tie due to a scoreless overtime.
The Sun Devils were able to surmount that struggle thanks to a late goal by sophomore forward and Ohio State transfer Noah Powell. The Flyers draftee leveled the game at two to force overtime against his former team on an off-angle shot that squeaked between the post and junior goaltender Kristoffer Eberly’s skate.
ASU was then able to punctuate its come-from-behind victory with sophomore forward Cullen Potter feeding senior forward Cruz Lucius on a two-man breakaway for the game-winning goal to send Sun Devil fans racing for the doors to catch the Territorial Cup, also moving Lucius into double digits in the goal column.
“It’s kind of tough because you don’t know whether you want to be a little bit unselfish or not,” Lucius said regarding the game winner. “I just saw the five hole kind of open, and then just really as hard as I can in there.”
Friday night’s victory was ASU’s second straight overtime win at home following its 3-2 win over Denver that also ended in the bonus period. Despite struggling to break through in tight games, the Sun Devils remain undefeated when games go to extra time because of their aggressive approach.
Powers’ decision to put three forwards on the ice in the five-minute sudden-death period is high risk, high reward, but only the latter has come so far, now leading to a pair of signature wins.
“I think it’s just being confident in ourselves and also just being relaxed,” said Lucius. “Then obviously there’s three forwards out there, so kind of a big, big move, but it’s been working out.”
With both teams trying to get over their mid-season lulls, a note of intensity rang between the two teams. The series opener against Ohio State was likely ASU’s most physical matchup of the year to this point, and it displayed a fresh sense of grit that came up big down the stretch.
A lot of the Sun Devils’ scoring opportunities were created from the dirty areas, with a newfound fire on the forecheck — a part of the game that Powers and his team have looked to sharpen.
“It’s a fine line,” Powers said. “You want to play on the edge, and that’s what we want, is our guys to be on the edge, but we don’t want to go over the edge.”
Finishing hits was another theme throughout the game that allowed ASU to maintain offensive pressure and come away with a number of turnovers as a result of its defensive physicality.
A main contributor in that department was senior defenseman Tucker Ness, who continuously threw his weight around in his fourth game of the season, filling a needed gap on a young Sun Devil blue line.
“[Ness] is just playing really, really good hockey for us,” Powers said. “It’s simple, he’s physical, he gives us an element on the [penalty] kill that we really need. Then, just in the room and on the bench, that’s where his real value comes into play with a young team is his leadership.”
ASU has gotten off to a less-than-ideal start to its season, but a very similar start to last year, where the Sun Devils narrowly missed out on an NCAA tournament bid — largely due to their lackluster non-conference record.
With the possibility of ASU’s first series sweep of the year looming and signs of improvement all-around, an undefeated weekend against a strong Big Ten opponent in Ohio State might be a nice feather in the cap for the Sun Devils and an important turning point in their season.
“We are on the right track for sure with the last two Saturdays that we have had,” Powers said. “We have got to match that tomorrow and have another really good Saturday, and we will feel really good about where we are at heading into the bye week.”
