No. 12 Arizona State hockey punched its ticket to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul, Minnesota, with a thrilling 6-5 overtime win over Minnesota Duluth on Saturday night. Just over six minutes into overtime, Sun Devil senior forward Ryan Kirwan slipped a shot through the five-hole of Bulldog freshman goaltender Adam Gajan to seal the series.
THE GAME WINNER BY @ryan44kirwan 😈 pic.twitter.com/tGP8nlrbbL
— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) March 16, 2025
“We talked during the intermission about how no shot is a bad shot and there was certainly a vision with that one,” Kirwan said.
After ASU coach Greg Powers called out his veteran players after Game 1, a better start was needed for ASU in Game 2.
The Bulldogs had the Sun Devils on their heels early, dominating possession through the first two minutes of the opening period. Arizona State eventually settled in, but a costly turnover just past the halfway mark by freshman defenseman Joel Kjellberg gave Minnesota Duluth freshman forward Max Plante a clear path to the net. The Detroit Red Wings’ 2024 second-round pick shelved a shot in the top left corner of the net to put the Bulldogs up 1-0.
Later in the first period, ASU got a flurry of chances around the crease but Gajan was up to the task doing the splits to rob graduate forward Lukas Sillinger on the doorstep. After the heroics from its goalie Minnesota Duluth scored a pair of goals in just over two and a half minutes.
The first came from a point shot that went off Arizona State freshman defenseman Sam Court and in. Next, the UMD freshman forward trio of the Plante brothers and Jayson Shaugabay connected the dots on a gorgeous tic-tac-toe goal, extending the Bulldogs’ lead to 3-0.
Sun Devil junior goaltender Gibson Homer led his team onto the ice replacing senior goaltender Luke Pavicich who gave up three goals on 13 shots. The ASU caught fire to begin the second period scoring three goals in five minutes sending Mullett Arena into a frenzy. Arizona State graduate student forwards Artem Shlaine and Ty Jackson potted goals 2:07 apart. Then, graduate student defenseman Noah Beck one-timed a shot from the point through traffic to level the score at three all.
“There was never any panic,” Powers said. “It was a weird sense of calm in the room and you blinked and it was tied.”
“The coaches said their piece and told us that we weren’t losing this game and you could just see in the room there was no wavering from anyone,” Shlaine said.
Less than 90 seconds later, Bulldog freshman defenseman Ty Hanson took a tripping penalty to put ASU on the man advantage. A gutsy kill from UMD kept the game even and gave Minnesota Duluth momentum as Shaugabay broke the tie with a wicked wrister from the right-wing faceoff circle, beating Homer’s high glove.
In the third period, Sun Devil freshman defenseman Brasen Boser activated from the point and sent a cross crease pass that Shlaine tapped in to tie it at four. Bulldog senior forward Dominic James slipped one by Homer on a semi-breakaway to give UMD its third lead of the game.
Minnesota Duluth junior defenseman Aiden Dubinsky took his second penalty of the game, giving the Sun Devils another crack on the power play. Arizona State junior forward Bennett Schimek was open in the low slot and buried a feed from behind the net by Jackson. That goal forced overtime once again at Mullett Arena.
Kirwan’s overtime winner was a crowning moment in a season full of outstanding games in Tempe—something Powers takes pride in during Arizona State’s inaugural season in the NCHC.
“To be able to win our last game at home and walk-off the ice in front of our fans and get them excited for next year is special,” Powers said.
“Our guys are super thankful for the fans this season, they gave us energy even when we didn’t have it,” Shlaine said. “Hopefully we made more people fans this season and they come back next year and cheer for the guys.”
ASU’s season rolls on as the Sun Devils head to Xcel Energy Center for the Frozen Faceoff. Arizona State will play its semifinal matchup on March 21, 2025, against either the Denver Pioneers or the North Dakota Fighting Hawks.
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