Injuries, chaos and a combined 0.968 save percentage.
That's what told the story as ASU hockey split a weekend series against Miami (OH) on Jan. 9 and 10.
Going into the series, the Sun Devils were coming off a positive winter. They split their series against No. 5 Minnesota Duluth and No. 8 Dartmouth in December.
Off the back of two series on the road against high-ranked opponents, the Sun Devils picked up a 7-2 win against Alaska Anchorage on Jan. 2, followed by a 5-2 win against Air Force on Jan. 3 to claim the Desert Hockey Classic.
However, the winter was not perfect. Despite a strong record, ASU entered the weekend riddled with injuries. Freshman forward Jack Beck, freshman defenseman Lincoln Kuehne and senior forward Johnny Waldron were all unavailable for the weekend series.
Regardless of being shorthanded due to these injuries, the Sun Devils played a strong first two periods in Friday's game. The game remained a stalemate until sophomore forward Casper Nassen scored the first goal of the game for Miami, sending the RedHawks into the intermission up 1-0.
The low-scoring affair continued into the third period, until, with just under three minutes left in the game, sophomore defenseman Sam Court scored his first goal of the season to tie it up. Court's teammate, sophomore defenseman Brasen Boser, was proud of what the goal meant.
"Especially in the moment, it was awesome for him," Boser said. "He's been up and down this year, and the last couple of games he's really been finding his game again. And that's awesome for him."
Despite momentum tracking in ASU's favor after the game-tying goal, neither team could find the net before the end of regulation, forcing overtime.
Freshman forward David Deputy silenced the rowdy crowd after his game-winning goal in overtime gave the RedHawks the first of the two-game series.
In a low-scoring game where sophomore goalie Matteo Drobac made 37 saves for the RedHawks, ASU head coach Greg Powers highlighted the feeling the Sun Devils had during the game.
"It was one of those games where it felt like, 'jeez, we may not get one,'" Powers said. "Their goalie was sharp, he was competing, he was just square."
As the doors opened for night two, ASU received even more bad news. Senior forward and captain Bennett Schimek was not available for Saturday's game due to an injury.
The first period proved that Saturday's game would be a different story. Miami was hot out of the gates, leading the period in shots 17-10. However, dueling goaltender play from freshman Samuel Urban for ASU and Drobac for Miami kept the score deadlocked into the first intermission.
ASU picked up some momentum in the second period, outshooting the RedHawks 12-9, but was unable to capitalize on a five-minute major penalty, and the game remained tied.
The third period started similarly to the other two; however, after over 50 minutes of scoreless hockey, sophomore forward Noah Powell found the net to give ASU the lead and eventually the win.
Urban made 37 saves and earned the first shutout in his college career. Despite Miami’s Drobac making 62 saves across the two games, Urban was happy with Saturday's result.
"He's great, but at the end of the day, we won," Urban said. "I had time to watch him last night, but I'm trying to focus on myself and don't really care who's standing in the opposite net."
Powers was proud of the statement his team sent.
"The weekend went ugly," Powers said. "It's a great message to our young team, 'hey, you keep the puck out of your net, and you have a chance to beat anybody.'"
In the third period of Saturday's game, Cullen Potter took a hard hit and needed help to come off the ice. As a bye week serves as a break between the Miami and North Dakota series, Powers commented on all the injuries his team is facing.
"(Bennett Schimek) could be back for North Dakota, we'll see," Powers said. "I think (Lincoln Kuehne) will be back for North Dakota. Johnny Waldron should be back for North Dakota. This bye week's coming at a really good time."
Edited by Niall Rosenberg, Jack McCarthy and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at aswift10@asu.edu and follow @alexswiftsports on X.
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