(Photo: Emma Gonzalez)
TEMPE — To offset losing six of the team’s top 10 leaders in points over the offseason, Arizona State head coach Greg Powers’ efforts in recruiting and the transfer portal netted him 17 additions to the 2025-26 roster. However, the reliance on players who would be brandishing the Maroon and Gold for the first time to replace past production posed a significant challenge for the Sun Devils right out of the gate.
The season opener at Mullett Arena on Friday night with the eyes of a sold out crowd and the NHL world upon them presented a stage for the new faces for No. 14 ASU (0-1) to make an impact significant enough to force a near-comeback against No. 5 Penn State (1-0) that fell just short in a 6-3 loss.
“I have no issues with how the young guys competed tonight and how they played,” Powers said. “We need more from our vets.”
Powers’ challenge for the team’s more established players to step up after the loss isn’t unfounded by any measure. Outside of freshman defenseman Justin Kipkie, ASU’s entire first line was made up of players expected to become top contributors with multiple seasons of experience in the program.
After the contest came to an end, the final boxscore reflected 2 assists, a combined plus-minus rating of -7, and the same amount of points as penalties committed from sophomore forward Cullen Potter, junior defenseman Anthony Dowd, and senior forwards Cruz Lucius and Bennett Schimek.
Junior forward and team co-captain Kyle Smolen chipped in with a stat line of zeroes across the board, making it no surprise that he shared in his coach’s disappointment in how the team’s supposed cornerstones performed.
“I didn’t do a good enough job of getting the guys ready, apparently, and I’ve got to be better and the rest of the leadership group as well,” Smolen said. “Bottom line, we’ve got to be more physical. We’ve got to be willing to go into the dirty areas. No one was willing to go into the dirty areas, and that’s where most of our offense came from last year: going to the hard areas. And it starts with our leadership group.”
On the other hand, the newcomers also had their fair share of struggles throughout the game. Kipkie, alongside freshman defensemen Lincoln Kuehne, Richard Baran, and Austin Zemlak, all saw significant time on the back end, and through two periods, held their own as ASU rendered Penn State scoreless for over 20 minutes.
However, the task of starting a collegiate hockey career by having to contain dynamic talents like sophomore forward Charlie Cerrato and freshman forward Gavin McKenna proved to be too much in a four-goal third period for the Nittany Lions.
Six of the ASU’s eight total penalties came from players making their Sun Devil debut, which didn’t help matters. The worst example came in the form of freshman forward Sam Alfano committing a violation for too many men on the ice, which set up a Penn State power play goal 15 seconds later to take a 1-0 lead during the first period.
“Simplify, keep pucks moving, a little bit more north mentality, less east-west,” Powers said. “Just make hard plays, and that’s what we told them. It wasn’t going to be perfect with that many new faces and that many young guys on the back end.”
The area where the newcomers truly shone was in providing a majority of the team’s tenacity on the offensive attack. Alfano made up for his earlier mistake by firing a quick wrist shot into the net eight minutes into the second period to record both the first goal of the season for the Sun Devils and of his collegiate hockey career. The former Ontario Hockey League player left a strong first impression throughout his time on the ice, finishing with an additional block and assist.
Junior center Sean McGurn, a transfer from the University of New Brunswick and also a former OHL player, joined in on the fun with an equalizing tip-in goal off an initial shot from Potter. Less than a minute later, sophomore forward and Michigan Tech transfer Logan Morrell threw up a wrist shot that slipped past Penn State goaltender Kevin Reidler to hand ASU its first lead. The Mesa native received assistance from Alfano and sophomore forward Ty Nash, a transfer from the University of Alberta and a Scottsdale native.
There’s little that can ultimately lessen the disappointment of not getting the job done in the first game of the season, especially considering how the Sun Devils had the game in their hands until the final 20 minutes. However, the immediate impact made in the offensive and defensive zones by the team’s fresh faces provides a silver lining that ASU can hang its hat on while focusing on closing out the opening series on a high note.
“There were a lot of good things,” Powers said. “You have 17 new bodies on a roster, and you play a game with this magnitude, and it’s a team that good. I saw a lot of really promising things that I’m excited about.”
