Arizona State celebrates a goal during Saturday's win over Minnesota (Austin Ford / Inferno Intel).
This story was originally publishedon November 27, 2022.
The Arizona State Sun Devils (8-7) upset the No. 2 University of Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-5) with a 6-5 score in an overtime spectacle at the sold-out Mullett Arena.
“We needed it. We needed it bad,” head coach Greg Powers said after the locker room celebration. “It was a must-win. We just haven’t had a lot of puck luck this year. We’re right there from having 12 wins and maybe even more.”
Heading into the first overtime period at Mullett Arena, the Sun Devils sent out senior forward Robert Mastrosimone, sophomore forward Josh Doan, and junior defenseman Tim Lovell on the ice first.
Sophomore Goaltender T.J. Semptimphelter made great saves in the few fast breaks that the Golden Gophers had.
“I really like the overtime stuff,” Semptimphelter said. “I think it fits my play style. I had a lot of trust in the guys in front of me, and I knew they’d get it done if I held up my end of the deal.”
Robert Mastrosimone was the one to secure the game-winning goal for the Sun Devils with one minute remaining in the period.
“It’s a team effort. We had to score five goals regardless,” Mastrosimone said. “I was just in the right place at the right time.”
After that goal, Mullett Arena had never been louder. The arena shook like an earthquake.
“We have a good hockey team that can win a lot of games,” Powers said. “We’ve beaten North Dakota in front of 15,000 of their fans, and we just beat Minnesota. We’re right there.”
The second period of the game was full of madness. Five goals were scored in total by both teams.
Forward Demetrios Koumontzis scored first in the period for ASU, marking the fourth goal in his final season with the Sun Devils. Junior Defenseman Tim Lovell and Junior Forward Ryan O’Reilly assisted on the goal.
A goal by junior Brock Faber quickly eliminated the Sun Devils’ lead. Faber is one of the 14 NHL draft picks on the talented Minnesota roster.
Freshman forward Ryan Alexander scored his second goal of the night to put ASU ahead once again.. The scoring play was set up following the breakaway shot from Robert Mastrosimone, where the puck ricocheted off of senior goaltender Justen Close.
Less than a minute after Alexander’s score, the Gophers evened the game once again when freshman forward Jimmy Snuggerud scored.
At the end of the period, the score went from 2-1 to a 4-4 tie.
Following the back and forth second period, the third would feature slower play from both sides.
The Golden Gophers would strike first in the period bringing them into the lead 5-4. The goal was scored by freshman Forward John Mittelstadt.
The rest of the period would be back and forth, with both teams making big shots and big saves. It was not until 3:07 left to play in the game that the Sun Devils tied up the game yet again.
Junior Forward Dylan Jackson sent the Sun Devils into overtime with his game-tying goal. Junior Forward Matthew Kopperud picked up an assist on the play.
During the first period, the Sun Devils found themselves in a similar situation during the second matchup of the series. The Devils fell behind 2-1 exiting the first period of play.
Minnesota’s sophomore forward Matthew Kines and sophomore forward Rhett Pitlick led the attack for the Gophers who notched 12 shots on goal, and Semptimphelter would reel in 10 saves, including one where he was on his backside covering the puck. That could have been the third goal of the period for the Gophers if Semptimphelter had not fallen backward.
Freshman forward Ryan Alexander was the first to score for ASU, with Doan and Mastrosimone assisting on the opening goal.
The Sun Devils will face off against No. 1 University of Denver (10-4) in Denver at 7:00 pm MST Friday.
“Our guys have got to be very good. They have to play how they did last night to have a chance to win,” Powers said. “If we play like we did tonight, we’re probably not going to win on the road.”
Leave a Reply