(Photo: Marina Williams/WCSN)
Since joining the Arizona State men’s hockey program before the 2022-23 season, there was very little doubt that junior TJ Semptimphelter would be the team’s No. 1 netminder. What wasn’t apparent — at least very early on — was how impactful he’d be to the Sun Devils within a year-and-a-half of his arrival.
During his first campaign in Tempe, Semptimphelter quickly put himself on the map, making the sixth-most saves in the country (1,024) while also being tied for the third-most shutouts (5) nationally. This dominance between the pipes earned the New Jersey native nominations for both the Hobey Baker Award (awarded to the most outstanding player in college hockey) and the Mike Richter Award (awarded to the most outstanding goaltender in college hockey).
And almost exactly two months into the 2023-24 season, Semptimphelter hit yet another milestone in his collegiate career. Achieving his third shutout of the season in ASU’s (11-3-2) 2-0 win over Colorado College (7-6-1) on Saturday, Semptimphelter tied former ASU, and current Seattle Kraken, net minder Joey Daccord (2016-19) for the most career shutouts in program history.
What makes the flawless 38-save performance even sweeter is that it was the main reason for the Sun Devils recording their first road victory of the season, which improved their record in that category to 1-1-2. With six of its nine remaining series this year coming at Mullett Arena, ASU continuing to find success away from home will be imperative to bolster its NCAA Tournament resumé, especially without any possibility of an auto-bid from winning a conference tournament.
For most of the game, however, the thought of the Sun Devils ending the night without conceding a single goal was inconceivable. Colorado College set the tone almost immediately after the opening puck drop, controlling play and spending ample time in the offensive zone. ASU didn’t log its first shot on goal until the 13:40 mark of the first period and had just two additional shot attempts during that span.
The absence of senior forwards Ty and Dylan Jackson, who both missed Saturday’s game due to injury, played at least a small part in ASU’s offensive struggles. Without the twins, ASU was without two-thirds of its top forward line that have recorded a combined 19 points so far this season.
Despite being outplayed in terms of puck possession and zone time, the Sun Devils were successful in mostly limiting the Tigers to outside shots and low-danger scoring chances. Even when Colorado College earned its inaugural power play of the night — which also came with 13:40 left in the first — ASU looked comfortable, allowing only two shots during the two minutes.
With under seven minutes to play in the opening period, the Sun Devils finally showed signs of life on offense as graduate forward Alex Young found the back of the net thanks to an outstanding individual effort. Streaking up the left wing, Young made a nifty move to get past his defenseman, drove across the crease and tapped ASU’s third shot of the night beyond the outstretched pad of sophomore goaltender Kaidan Mbreko for his fifth goal of the season.
After 20 minutes of play, Colorado College held a 16-9 advantage in shots and also led 8-7 in shots on goal. However, the final two periods are where the offensive stats — aside from goals scored — became lopsided in favor of the home team.
Much like the opening period, the Tigers dominated play from the start and spent nearly all of the first two minutes in the offensive zone. This led to ASU’s skaters becoming both fatigued and desperate, which showed when graduate forward Tyler Gratton took a cross-checking penalty just 1:26 into the frame. But in the early stages of the power play, things didn’t get off to the start Colorado College had hoped for.
With 45 seconds elapsed on the man advantage, Tigers senior defenseman Chase Foley couldn’t cleanly corral a clearing attempt and had the puck swiftly taken from him along the blue line by sophomore forward Ryan Alexander, giving him a breakaway. Alexander then fired a wrister over Mbreko’s glove and into the top-right corner of the net, doubling ASU’s lead.
Immediately after the goal, Colorado College again poured on the pressure and created one of its best scoring chances of the night. Good puck movement led to sophomore defenseman Ethan Straky getting a great look from the slot, which he’d take full advantage of by firing a one-timer from point-blank range. However, Semptimphelter made the initial save, slid across his crease and turned aside the following rebound try from freshman forward Evan Werner with an incredible diving save.
This averted scoring chance proved a microcosm of how the rest of the night went for Colorado College. In the final two periods alone, the Tigers put up 30 shots on goal, 70 shot attempts and hit the post multiple times, but still somehow couldn’t beat Semptimphelter. The Sun Devils, on the other hand, totaled only 25 shot attempts throughout the entire night.
Semptimphelter looked comfortable from the get-go and made several highlight-reel saves, but he wasn’t solely responsible for the shutout. ASU’s skaters also blocked 26 shots, with three players — junior defensemen Ethan Szmagaj and Cade Alami along with senior forward Ryan O’Reilly — pacing the team with four each.
While they were outplayed for much of Sunday’s game and had to settle for a tie on Friday, the Sun Devils leave Colorado Springs without losing, a positive indication considering they accrued a 9-22-1 road record in the previous two seasons. ASU returns home to Mullett Arena next weekend when it hosts Dartmouth for a two-game series.
