Arizona State (24-8-6) finished the season with a 5-2 victory over Alaska Anchorage (15-17-2) on Saturday night at Avis Alaska Sports Complex. They split the weekend series with a 4-3 loss on Friday.
The win was ASU’s 24th on the season, a new program record.
It was a big night for senior captain Lukas Sillinger, who tallied his first career hat trick, the first-ever natural hat trick in ASU program history.
It only took 70 seconds for Sillinger to get the Sun Devils going, with help from sophomore Charlie Schoen and senior forward Ty Jackson on the assist.
Just 49 seconds later, Sillinger scored his second of the night with another assist from Schoen and a secondary from freshman defenseman Josh Niedermayer.
The Sun Devils were up 2-0 at the 10-minute mark of the first period when Sillinger netted his third goal of the night to complete his natural hat trick with assists from senior defenseman Tim Lovell and Schoen again.
Sillinger finished the season with 37 assists and 48 points. He finished ranked second in the NCAA for assists and holds the most points scored in a single season in ASU program history.
It was a huge night for records for ASU’s whole roster, as Lovell’s assist put him into a tie for the program record for points by a defenseman in a single season, sitting at 37 with Brinson Pasichnuk (2019-20).
Lovell had 32 assists in the season which was third among all defensemen in the NCAA and ninth against all skaters.
Senior forward Matthew Kopperud added to his NCAA power-play goals with one in the first, tallying 17 on the season.
The forward is tied for fourth in the NCAA’s all-time career power-play goal leaderboard.
Kopperud’s power-play goal was his 23rd goal of the season, tying the program record for goals scored in a single season with Johnny Walker (2018-19). He also tied for No. 7 in the country.
Over his four years as a Sun Devil, Kopperud he tallied 108 points, earning him the second spot in ASU’s all-time point-scoring record book. Johnny Walker holds the title with 123.
The Sun Devils headed into the second period up 4-0, but Alaska won the period scoring two goals and holding ASU to none.
To close out the game, senior forward Benji Eckerle scored the fifth and final goal on an empty net.
The win marked the last in ASU’s final season as an independent. The Sun Devils went 11-2-1 against fellow independents and will join the NCHC next season.
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