ASU Women’s Hockey: Sun Devils comeback against GCU

The Arizona State Club Women’s Hockey score three straight goals to come back and win against the Grand Canyon Lopes in the inaugural game at Mullett Arena.

Wednesday’s game marked the first game at Mullett Arena, which was built for ASU Athletics and will be home to the Arizona Coyotes of the NHL, prompting construction to update the arena to NHL specifications.

“It’s gorgeous,” head coach Lindsey Ellis said about Mullet Arena. “I don’t know how someone could not like Mullett Arena.”

The arena seats 5,000 fans and has been gaining hype since it was announced, packing 4,000 fans in its first game, surpassing the previous two games’ attendance at Oceanside Arena.

With the Sun Devils winning the opening faceoff, the game was on. GCU’s senior defenseman Sydney Boucher went to the box early with only a couple of seconds going by in the first. With the Sun Devils on the powerplay, graduate forward Mason Walker scored with a tip from graduate defenseman Flo Awde’s slapshot from the blue line, scoring the first goal at Mullett Arena.

“It was exciting to get a good start to the game,” Awde said.

The Lopes didn’t take this lightly, as they would come back to put a bunch of shots on junior goaltender Hallie McClelland, turning all four shots away, but the Sun Devils didn’t slouch away from taking shots. forward freshman Tristan Craig would have a good chance with a wrap-around, but Lopes sophomore goaltender Hannah Schneidmiller would deny Craig. Schneidmiller denied the Sun Devils on three different shots as ASU forced a couple of rebounds to the net. 

Sophomore forward Elle McKenna would go to the box midway through the period for interference. The strong penalty kill team for the Sun Devils so far this season stayed strong as the team killed more than half of the period before GCU took a penalty of its own, sending sophomore forward Belle Lacombe to the box for tripping.

While the Lopes killed the penalty, they would return to the box as junior forward Alyssa Olson took a penalty. Even with multiple Sun Devil shots, they still didn’t budge as they kept every shot out of their net. ASU led in games with 24 shots, marking the third straight game. GCU would put up six shots of its own. 

The Sun Devils had a tough start to the second period, letting sophomore forward Reese Gingrich storm through their defense and on a breakaway. McClelland stoned her cold, but GCU took the momentum and ran with it putting up a respectable five shots in less than five minutes. Unfortunately for GCU, senior forward Annabelle Koethe took a penalty putting ASU on the powerplay for the fourth time in the game. The Sun Devils failed to capitalize on the opportunity, failing to put many shots on the net. 

GCU kept its lack of discipline going as Willow Troy would be the next player in the box for tripping. Once again, GCU’s penalty kill stopped the Sun Devils’ powerplay. 

Senior forward Jill Ketchum would be the next player in the box, this time though ASU would go on the penalty kill. GCU’s powerplay wouldn’t last long as they took yet another penalty. Lacombe went back to the box for tripping. The Sun Devils didn’t do well on their four-on-four chance as a misread pass left Rory Artega all alone in front of ASU’s net. Artega put it top-shelf and scored, tying the game at 1. Even with seconds left on their powerplay, ASU still managed to make nothing of their powerplay keeping the score at one apiece.

Walker would find himself in an unfortunate position with 35 seconds left in the period. Ran over by a Lopes player, Walker was shaken up as he headed to the bench, putting ASU back on the powerplay with seconds remaining in the period. 

“Just a little whiplash, I’ll be ok,” Walker said. “It’s hockey, you gotta get back out there.”

ASU wouldn’t be the team capitalizing on the powerplay. GCU marched into the Sun Devils’ zone shorthanded and shot the puck into the net. The puck was stopped by McClelland but leaked past her. Koethe tapped the perfectly placed puck into the net for a late GCU goal, giving them a 2-1 lead.

It would be too late for ASU to gather any kind of response as the period ended seconds later. They led in the shots column with 36 but its poor powerplay led to a deficit, finishing the second intermission as just one for seven on the powerplay. The Lopes’ two goals while the Sun Devils were on the powerplay with one coming on four-on-four play. They also had just 15 shots at the second intermission, yet held a 2-1 lead.

While the Sun Devils entered the third period on a powerplay, the Lopes shut any chance they had down. Craig looked pretty good, deking to put a couple of shots on GCU’s net but Schneidmiller stoned her cold.

Olson would continue GCU’s night in the box by checking freshman forward Camryn Kozak hard into the boards. Olson was called for interference however tempers flared as junior forward Madi Mesenbrink was called for holding and sent to the box. Awde would join Mesenbrink shortly for holding putting GCU on the powerplay, prompting GCU’s student section to yell “you can’t do that.”

“It’s always a physical game when we play GCU,” Ketchum said. “We’re the only two teams in Arizona so we’re trying to represent the state.”

The Lopes went to the box for roughing shortly after Awde’s penalty. However, the Sun Devils looked energized with a line featuring Kozak and Walker on the ice. A battle in front of the net saw Walker finally break the goalless streak on the powerplay as she tucked the puck into the net. Walker who had been a target for GCU’s enforcers all night long threw his arms in the air to celebrate as he scored his second of the game. Kozak would tally an assist on the goal, tying the game 2-2.

ASU would see two of their own go to the box. McKenna and Walker both went to the box forcing ASU into a long penalty kill. Matters would only get worse as Brooklyn Kallander went to the box as well as ASU’s second penalty. Yet this wild game took another unexpected turn. A stopped wrap-around chance by Walker was turned into a goal with Ketchum getting to the puck in front of the net and tucking it in. Ketchum would give the Sun Devils the lead for the first time since the third period and on top of everything, it was an ASU shorthanded goal. 3-2 would now be the score in a penalty-filled night. 

“Mason set me up perfectly, I was there in front of the net. It was a beautiful pass and it went right into the net,” Ketchum described when speaking about her goal. 

Even after a handful of minutes of back-and-forth physical hockey, the tide was now in the favor of ASU. With a pass from Walker, junior defenseman Maddie Pladson beautifully sniped it into the top corner of the net to give the Sun Devils a 4-2 lead. Kallander also assisted on the goal. 

Pladson’s goal ended it for the game as the Sun Devils would win the first game at Mullett Arena 4-2. Goals from Pladson, Ketchum, and two from Walker would seal the deal for ASU as the comeback was celebrated with the team leaping on the ice and tackling McClelland in hugs.

“It comes right back to the fact we have a great team and you feel supported behind you and you’re about to make those moments happen. I’m very lucky to be here. We were lucky to open up here in Mullett Arena,” Walker said when asked about her three-point night.

54 overall shots gave ASU the win as GCU walked away with 24. The most notable part of the game however was the number of penalties. GCU took eight penalties the whole game while ASU had six of their own. 

“I’m a little bit relieved,” Ellis laughed when asked about the game. “Stressful game obviously going down 2-1 so I’m happy with the comeback but it’s early in the season so there’s a lot to work on moving forward.”

Still, even with the massive amount of penalties,  ASU managed to score three straight goals to come back and win against rival GCU 4-2 in the inaugural game in Mullett Arena.

“Every team is different,” Awde said. “(The referees) gonna call what they’re gonna call and you just gotta go out there, penalty kill, powerplay, doesn’t matter what it is, everyone’s got a job to do.”

The Sun Devils are now 3-0-0 to start the season. They’ll be on the road for their next game which is at Massachusettes-Amherst on October 21st. The Sun Devils’ next home game at Mullett Arena will be on November 4th. 

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