Arizona State returns to action for East Coast swing

If you've been waiting on pins and needles for Sun Devil hockey to return, you're not alone.

Arizona State (8-9-1, 4-5-1 NCHC) hits the ice for the final time in 2025, traveling to Hanover, N.H. to take on the No. 8 ranked Dartmouth Big Green. Long a second thought in the ECAC conference, Dartmouth has stormed out to an 11-1-0 overall record (6-0-0 ECAC) to open the season, looking for their first NCAA tournament appearance since a third place finish in 1980.

Head coach Reid Cashman has turned the Big Green around in the post-Covid era, reaching the semifinal round of the ECAC tournament in each of the last two seasons. Sophomore forward Hayden Stavroff has been a major piece to the success of the offense, tallying 13 goals and 7 assists for 20 points to lead an offense that ranks third in the nation with 4.33 goals per game. Hank Cleaves (5 G-9 A-14 P) and Nikita Nokora (3 G-9 A-12 P) have continued their scoring output from last season, both looking to exceed the 20 point mark for a second straight season.

On defense Dartmouth ranks as the best team in the nation, allowing just 1.33 goals per game over their first 12 games. Emmett Croteau and Roan Clarke have made a formidable goaltending tandem, splitting the workload evenly with 6 games each. Both have a shutout to their credit, with Croteau holding the slight edge with a 1.16 goals against average and .953 save percentage compared to Clarke (1.51 GAA, .920 SV%). CJ Foley made a name for himself last season for his offense from the blue line (11 G-19 A-30 P), having been named Ivy League Player of the Year in 2025. This season he has taken a step back to focus more on his defensive skills to round out his game and play to a more consistent level in front of his goaltenders. Eric Charpentier and Colin Grable round out the defensive leadership that has stood out with an 90.3% penalty kill rate (4th nationally).

Keeping to the special teams play, Dartmouth employs a very aggressive power play unit that ranks 7th nationally at a 27.0% conversion rate. The Big Green will look to overwhelm either Arizona State goaltender with a high shot volume that runs primarily through CJ Foley and Hayden Stavroff.

The main knock on Dartmouth's hot start comes from the weaker schedule of the ECAC. The Big Green simply have not faced much adversity, with their toughest game coming in a 2-1 in at home against Cornell in addition to their loss at New Hampshire on December 14th to end their perfect start to the season. Furthermore, the Dartmouth coaching staff has been looking for either goaltender to take control, but looks happy to enjoy the tandem for the time being.

The Sun Devils are not new to facing top-10 teams. This weekend's series will be the 5th such series, going 3-5-0 against top-10 teams to date with Saturday wins over North Dakota, Denver, and Minnesota-Duluth. The Devils have faced the Big Green twice previously, playing to 4-4 and 1-1 ties with shootout wins in the 2023-24 season. The current top line of Bennett Schimek, Cullen Potter, and Cruz Lucius will be crucial to success this weekend. Lucius and Schimek both reached 100 career points in the last game at Minnesota-Duluth, and the Sun Devils are 14-1-1 since 2024 when Potter scores a goal, including 6-0 this season.

The Sun Devils have hope that their other co-captain Kyle Smolen will be returning to the lineup after missing the second game at Duluth with a concussion.

In a light sports weekend, this weekend's series will be the only Sun Devil athletics events on the calendar. Don't miss out on any of the action from Thompson Arena for this rare Saturday/Sunday series. Saturday's game will begin at 3:00pm Arizona time with Sunday starting at 1:00pm, both streaming on ESPN+ (subscription required). Tyler Paley and Alex Coil will have the call on the radio for Fox Sports 910 Phoenix.