Despite going 0 for 7 on the powerplay the Arizona State Sun Devils (1-0) went toe-to-toe with the No.15 Merrimack Warriors (0-1) and squeaked past them 1-0 in overtime on Friday night.
The Sun Devils got off to a slow start, due mostly to the aggressiveness Merrimack showed right off the bat. The Warriors were sound on fundamentals, dumping and chasing, retrieving the puck, cycling, and then looking for the open shot in a speedy fashion. ASU had no response to the intensity Merrimack showcased in the first period. The Sun Devils were hemmed in their zone and couldn’t find ways to break out and obtain any substantial offensive pressure.
“I thought in the first period our puck management was not good, I think it was more nerves than execution and decision-making,” ASU head coach Greg Powers said.
Sun Devil junior goaltender TJ Semptimphelter shut the door early on, which kept the game from getting away from ASU.
“He’s the backbone, when you’re struggling and you have him back there to bail you out till you get it together it’s a good feeling and he did that tonight,” Powers said.
Semptimphelter stopped all 15 shots in the first period, finishing with 31 saves and recording his first shutout of the year in his season debut.
“It was really exciting to get that first game under my belt against Merrimack, they are a good opponent. I thought we did a good job preparing, obviously just seeing all the hard work over the summer, and all the guys that came here to train early,” Semptimphelter said. “To see that kind of payoff for the right team is awesome.”
Towards the end of the first period, the Sun Devils started to pick up their feet and reciprocate the intensity, not allowing the Warriors to continue to walk all over them.
With less than a minute left in the first period, junior defenseman and Philadelphia Flyers draft pick Ty Murchison leveled Warriors forward Filip Forsmark with an open-ice hit. Merrimack’s Matt Copponi retaliated and both players received five-minute majors as well as game misconducts.
“They miss Copponi, we miss Murch. It happened to be on the same play and it hurt both teams obviously but they’ll both be back tomorrow and hopefully, we will see some good hockey,” Powers said.
The second period saw both teams starting to play a bit chippy. Frustration and carelessness from both teams resulted in what seemed to be penalty after penalty. Special teams dominated the majority of the period, asASU found themselves with three power play opportunities in the second only being able to register a total of three shots.
While the power play was unsuccessful, the Sun Devils’ penalty kill looked very sharp. ASU made it difficult for the Warriors to enter the zone as they plugged up the blue line, leaving no space for Merrimack to even be able to set up in the offensive zone. The penalty kill was perfect, going 3/3 only giving up one shot.
“PK was great, those guys did tremendous,” Powers said. “Dana Borges did a hell of a job preparing our guys for the PK.”
Both teams traded chances back and forth. The Sun Devils came closest to breaking the ice when senior left-winger Lukas Sillinger was all alone on a breakaway with senior right-winger Dylan Jackson trailing behind him for the rebound. Both of them tested Merrimack goaltender Zachary Borgiel but they couldn’t find the back of the net.
Penalties continued into the third period. The Sun Devils had three more power plays and once again only managed to log a total of three shots.
“They have to simplify, we have just got to converge and get pucks to the net. Their goalie was really good tonight. So I think we were looking for the perfect shot because he was so sound,” said Powers.
After 60 minutes nothing was solved, it was scoreless at the Mullett heading to extra time.
The Sun Devils took control right from the drop of the puck. Sophomore right-winger Charlie Schoen showcased a nifty Spin-o-Rama which resulted in a Merrimack penalty that sent the Sun Devils to their seventh powerplay 24 seconds into overtime.
ASU couldn’t convert on the powerplay but continued to keep the puck in the offensive zone. The Sun Devils showed great puck movement along the perimeter waiting for an opportunity to end the game.
It all started with senior defenseman Tim Lovell who ripped a shot on net. Senior left-winger Matthew Kopperud picked up the rebound and was stopped on his initial attempt. He batted his own rebound in mid-air to give the Sun Devils their first goal and first win of the 2023-24 season.
“You sort of blur out for a little bit until Timmy jumps on you and then you’re like oh it actually happened but no you’re just trying to score a goal, it ends up going in but you’re not really thinking about it,” said Kopperud.
It was a battle and a tight one at that, but the Sun Devils got the job done in their home opener and they will look to complete the sweep against the Merrimack Warriors on Saturday night. Puck drop is set for 5 p.m.
“It’s college hockey, it’s hard to sweep anybody, especially a ranked team, and now we have a hell of an opportunity to really get off to a tremendous start and sweep a ranked team,” said Powers.
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