It was a night of firsts at Mullett Arena on Friday as the No. 15 Arizona State Sun Devils took down the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 5-3, earning their first win of the season. Freshman forwards Ben Kevan and Carmelo Crandell scored their first collegiate goals, and sophomore forward Noah Powell tallied his first as a Sun Devil. In net, freshman goaltender Samuel Urban made 36 saves in his collegiate debut.
“Anytime you can beat a Big Ten team, it’s a huge win; it’ll be a nice win for us all season,” ASU coach Greg Powers said.
Although Urban got credit for the victory, he was forced to exit the game just seven minutes into the third period as senior goaltender Connor Hasley entered the game. Urban was reportedly dealing with cramps that he said started in the second period. By the third, it was becoming too much for him to handle.
“During the third period, my whole body was shaking, and that’s never happened to me, so that’s why I asked for a change,” Urban said.
Halsey let up one goal on 11 shots. It was part of an impressive 50 shots generated by the Fighting Irish, who kept the pressure on late in the third period. After blowing third-period leads in each of their first two games, Powers and the Sun Devils are still experiencing some growing pains in the young season.
“We have a really good hockey team, but we have to close out games more effectively,” Powers said.
Luckily, his team was able to take a lead in the first period. Following a parade to the penalty boxes, ASU finally struck on its third man advantage of the period when junior forward Kyle Smolen capitalized on a slot shot.
The second goal of the opening frame came just 32 seconds after yet another Maroon and Gold power play. The Sun Devils mounted a strong counterattack after forcing a turnover at their blue line. Powell led a three-on-two rush and elected to shoot. He made no mistake going high glove to make it 2-0.
The second period can be characterized as an offensive outburst: five goals and 31 shots combined between the two teams.
Just 53 seconds into the period, another odd-man chance made way for Crandell to have a partial breakaway and slide one through the five-hole of the Notre Dame goalie, making it 3-0.
Thirty-eight seconds later, Notre Dame had an answer. A seeing-eye point shot beat Urban, and the Fighting Irish had life. After the teams once again traded power plays, the Fighting Irish finally capitalized on a deflection, making it a one-goal game with just under eight minutes left in the second period.
ASU had an answer of its own, and exactly one minute later, Kevan jumped off the bench and got a pass from sophomore defenseman Sam Court. Kevan had all kinds of space and ripped a shot upstairs for his first collegiate goal.
“I was able to just find a soft area, and Courtsy (Sam Court) is such a good playmaker, and he was able to find me,” Kevan said.
The freshman added another goal just four and a half minutes later. Sophomore defenseman Joel Kjellberg sent a 130-foot pass that sent Kevan on a breakaway, where he went upstairs yet again to restore the three-goal cushion.
Notre Dame got it within two and threw a remarkable 20 shots on goal in the third–nearly half of its total shots on net. Despite its efforts, the Sun Devils stood their ground and finally closed out a win in front of their home fans.
Although they didn’t make it easy on themselves, according to their coach, the victory is meaningful nonetheless.
“It’s always great with a young team when we can teach them things in a win,” Powers said.
Arizona State looks to take home the Ice Breaker Tournament with a win over Alaska-Fairbanks today at 7 p.m. AZT in Tempe.
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