Hours before their 2026-27 home opener, ASU players entered the locker room ahead of their series with Holy Cross.
As they stepped in, they were met with a reminder of their teammate.
Hung up was Matthew Mayich's jersey.
Exactly 50 days prior, the Sun Devils watched as Mayich collapsed and was hospitalized during a team workout. Since his hospitalization, Mayich's condition has worsened, with "no chance of recovery," according to the lawyer representing Mayich's family.
After the first game of the weekend, senior forward and captain Kyle Smolen said that seeing his jersey reminded the team what they were playing for.
"We're playing for 27," Smolen said. "We're playing for each other, playing for our hockey careers each night. It's easy to buy in for sure because now we're doing it for a bigger purpose."
Since Mayich's collapse, preparing for a hockey season has been no easy task for ASU.
While the past 50 days have been a challenge for the players, they've leaned on one another to get through it.
"The best way we can deal with it is to be with each other at all moments, and to help each other get through it day-by-day," Smolen said.
Off the back of a series split at Lindenwood, ASU prepared to take the ice for their home opening series against the Crusaders.
After head coach Greg Powers was placed on administrative leave days before their first game, assistant coach Mike Corbett took over head coaching duties for the opening two series of the season, despite ASU being on the search for an interim head coach.
As fans entered Mullett Arena, they received pins with "MM #27".
With Mayich in the thoughts of all those in the arena, the Sun Devils took to the ice for their first home game of the season.
The opening game of the series lacked big moments. Neither team found the net until nearly five minutes remaining in the game, when sophomore forward Daniel Shlaine opened the scoring.
Holy Cross responded well, scoring two goals 11 seconds apart in the final two minutes of the game to take the first contest of the series.
Following the game, Corbett faced questions regarding reports that surfaced online in the week prior to the game.
One report from College Hockey News' Adam Wodon stated that at least one player who was left off the lineup took himself out for "personal reasons," something Corbett disputed postgame.
After playing off questions regarding Mayich and the conversation surrounding the program, Corbett spoke about the emotions he's experienced while coaching the team.
"It's hard," Corbett said. "People can say what they want to say about the coaching staff or me personally and dig up things. That's their prerogative to do that. We hurt too. We are human beings too. We were there too."
The team did not have time to meet before the 3 p.m. start time for game two. All the Sun Devils could do was swallow the difficult loss from the previous night and try to continue playing in honor of Mayich.
Before the game, Corbett reminded his players, "Today's a new day." Whatever happened the previous night — or throughout the entirety of an already adverse season — does not define what they can accomplish on a new bed of ice.
This time around, the Sun Devils were able to capitalize on scoring opportunities and find the strength to overcome the Crusaders, remembering the "bigger purpose" that they play for to propel them to a 5-4 overtime victory.
Scoring started earlier in game two, with the first goal netted by sophomore forward Olivier Houde less than halfway through the first period.
However, the Sun Devils consistently showed weakness at the end of each period, allowing Holy Cross to score with less than a second left in the first period and again in the last minute of the second.
The score was a bleak 3-1 in favor of the Crusaders as the Sun Devils took the ice for the third period.
The team found not only its intensity but also its resilience in those last 20 minutes of play, as the Sun Devils remembered who they were playing for.
"Like (Smolen) said, we are playing for something bigger," sophomore forward Jack Beck said. "Everything's for Matthew. There's people going through a lot harder things in the world, so giving your all for 20 minutes isn't too hard."
Freshman forward Nathan Behm, Smolen and junior forward Ben Muthersbaugh were the key scorers for a late-game surge, resulting in three unanswered goals against Holy Cross.
Yet, the Sun Devils let the Crusaders best them again in the final moments of the third period; another last-minute goal sent the game to overtime.
Corbett's message for his team was terse but effective for those extra five minutes of play.
"Don't feel sorry for yourselves," Corbett told his players. "Nobody feels sorry for us. This is hockey."
Beck shared that the team "felt that we deserved better last night" and was not ready to let another disappointing loss be the story of the game.
That intensity of play crescendoed into a first-minute goal from Beck in overtime, punctuating the Sun Devils' first win at home.
Despite the victory, the team is not done battling its way through a season full of both physical intensity and internal uncertainty pending the naming of an official interim head coach.
For now, Corbett will continue emphasizing the need to take every game minute-by-minute, day-by-day in the face of a tumultuous season.
"No matter what's going on, just focus on the next shift," Corbett said. "If we can do that, we can just win. We'll win the game one shift at a time."
Edited by Char O'Neil, Alan Deutschendorf III and Sophia Keeling.
Reach the reporter at aswift10@asu.edu and bcsmit41@asu.edu and follow @alexswiftsports on X.
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Brooklyn Smith is a reporter for the Sports desk at The State Press. She is majoring in English Literature and Economics. This is her third semester with The State Press.
