(Photo: Joey Plishka/WCSN)
On Friday at Mullett Arena, Arizona State hockey opened its 2023-24 campaign with a tough test in No. 15 Merrimack. For a Sun Devils’ squad with several newcomers, defeating a 2023 NCAA Tournament team picked to finish third in the loaded Hockey East Conference proved a tall task.
But as far as first impressions go, ASU couldn’t have left much of a better one.
The Sun Devils (1-0) overcame a slow start and over 60 minutes of scoreless hockey, as senior forward Matthew Kopperud lit the lamp 2:33 into overtime — just nine seconds after ASU’s seventh power play of the night expired — to secure a 1-0 victory over the Warriors (0-1).
After receiving a slap-pass from junior defenseman Tim Lovell on the goal line, the Denver native cruised to the front of the crease and fired a shot that bounced off Merrimack senior goaltender Zachary Borgiel and into the air. However, Kopperud batted the rebound into the net before the puck touched the ground, garnering a collective sigh of relief from the 4,680 fans inside Mullett Arena.
“I don’t think we were on the power play anymore, but just to have the momentum,” Kopperud said. “[Lovell] carried into the zone and it just ended up working out. Kind of a lucky play how it bounced out, but just happy at winning.”
For Kopperud, the game-winning goal provided a sense of relief for a different reason — it was his first after missing nearly half of last season with a lower-body injury.
“[Playing again] was awesome,” Kopperud said. “There’s no other feeling of being out there with a bunch of your brothers. Last year it definitely was not fun at all, sitting in the stands hurt, not being able to help your team win. So tonight to finally be there and in the locker room, the whole time feeling good, it was a lot of fun.”
Kopperud made his presence felt early and often on Friday, finishing the game with a staggering 11 shots on goal. Nine of those shots came when ASU was on the power play, an area that showed promise despite going 0-for-7 on the man advantage.
Even though they ultimately came up empty, the Sun Devils moved the puck well and gave their key shooters — Kopperud and graduate forward Alex Young — several good scoring looks. ASU only mustered ten total shots on the power play largely due to Merrimack’s defenders holding the Sun Devils to the outside and seemingly always clogging up shooting lanes.
The Warriors’ success while shorthanded is nothing new, as they posted an 82 percent success rate on the penalty kill in 2022-23. Because of this, there isn’t a need for ASU to drastically change its approach to the power play, especially after only one game.
“They’ve gotta simplify [the power play],” head coach Greg Powers said. “We’ve gotta just converge and get pucks to the net. Really good goalie, [Borgiel] was really, really good tonight. So I think we’re looking for the perfect shot because he was so sound and doing such a good job…”
While Friday’s result was positive for ASU, things didn’t appear promising during the game’s early going. The Sun Devils began the opening period looking extremely sluggish, spending nearly all of the first two minutes in their own zone. As the frame progressed, ASU began to get into a groove but still struggled to control the puck — an area it improved later in the game.
“I thought in the first period, our puck management was not good,” Powers said. “I think it was more nerves and execution than decision-making. I don’t think that anybody was managing the puck selfishly or negligently, I think it was just nerves. I think they were just a little bit nervous and bobbling pucks, and almost treating the puck like it was a grenade. Once we stopped doing that, we really settled in and started playing better.”
The Sun Devils did settle in, and it showed on the scoresheet. In the first period, Merrimack led the shots on goal 15-8, but ASU would outshoot the Warriors 23-16 the rest of the way, bringing each team’s final shot total to 31.
Whenever Merrimack had a scoring chance, goaltender TJ Semptimphelter was there to stand in the way. The junior netminder built off a stellar 2022-23 campaign — one that saw him record a .913 save percentage and 1,024 saves, the most in college hockey — with a 31-save shutout on Friday. Semptimphelter now has six shutouts as a Sun Devil, just two shy of tying Joey Daccord’s program-record eight set in 2019.
“Yeah, that was fun,” Semptimphelter said. “I mean, that’s why I’m there… No matter what, that’s why I’m there. So if something breaks down in front of me or a bad bounce doesn’t go our way, stuff’s gonna happen, it’s a game. I’m just happy to be playing the game I love and putting my head in front of pucks.”
