Amid the excitement surrounding ASU hockey and its growing presence in the Valley, one team builds its way up player by player and season after season to become a powerhouse in the West: ASU women's club hockey.
The team has improved significantly since its creation in 2016. Players are striving for success both within the team and in the community, hoping to strengthen the presence of youth hockey for girls in Arizona.
The team enters the second half of the season ranked eighth in the ACHA and first in the Independent conference. This dominance has been long in the making for head coach Lindsey Ellis, and many current players have been along for the team's rise to glory.
"When I first came into the program, we had never made a national appearance," graduate forward Sam Murphy said. "We had never won a conference championship."
Through Ellis' dedication, rigorous recruiting efforts, and the continued development of current players, the team has found itself ranked in the top 10 ACHA women's teams every season since 2022-23.
READ MORE: A decade in the desert: How Lindsey Ellis transformed ASU women's hockey
"Lindsey's found players that uniquely fit into roles on the ice and then also work together as a team off the ice as well," junior forward Breanne Powell said.
It is that time off the ice that defines this team in many different ways.
Lasting bonds between teammates lead to strengthened performances in games as well as a shared sense of enjoyment during competition.
"I just want to enjoy the time I still have with my team and when we feel good, we play good," senior goaltender Quinn Eatinger said. "When we play good, we win."
This dynamic also contributes to another of the team’s central tenets: giving back to the community that gives to them.
In October, the team hosted its annual "Day with the Devils," in which it ran a free hockey clinic for girls aged 6-10. The clinic represents the team's larger goal of building up youth hockey culture and support for young girls in the Valley.
READ MORE: Valley vacancy: ASU hockey moves into the post-NHL era
"It's really important to us to show these girls that you can stay in hockey for your whole life, from college and onward," Murphy said.
For individuals like Ellis, Day with the Devils is a way to provide the experience and encouragement that she did not see in her early years playing hockey in Arizona.
"When I was growing up, I didn't have that," Ellis said. "I didn't have any female players to look up to or even know what my opportunities were."
Community involvement does not end with Day with the Devils, either. The team holds each player accountable for 15 hours of volunteer service per season, resulting in even more participation in local girl's programs.
"One of my coaches ... offers anyone on our team to come help coach some of the little Kachinas girls players," Eatinger said. "We do 'blue line buddies,' so that means they get to come up during our starting line-up and just kind of see they have a future in hockey."
The team's ultimate goal is to continue their development and dominance in the ACHA, recruiting hard and playing even harder. With a new DII arriving for the 2026-27 season, the team is making a case for the persistence of women's hockey at ASU and looking toward goals beyond the club level.
"I would love to see ASU be the first team on the West Coast to have (NCAA) women's hockey," Ellis said. "There's a ton of colleges that could make this happen, and I hope it's ASU."
The community dedication and relentless drive for greatness that define this team are built on a shared love of the sport that raised these players — the same love that the women's team wants to pass on to the next generation of female hockey players.
"I don't want to hang up the skates," Murphy said. "I don't ever want to be done with this sport. It's made me who I am."
Edited by Niall Rosenberg, Senna James and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at bcsmit41@asu.edu.
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Brooklyn Smith is a sports reporter for The State Press and an English student at ASU. She is in her 1st semester with The State Press.
