It was a homecoming of sorts for some of the Sun Devils, as a few of them have ties to Minnesota. Those players showed out in Saturday’s game in Duluth, with senior forward Bennett Schimek being the star of the show.
Arizona State (8-9-1, 4-5-1 NCHC) hockey won its fourth consecutive Saturday game 6-3 (EN) over no. 5 Minnesota-Duluth (14-6-0, 7-5-0 NCHC). It was a bounce-back win after losing 3-1 (EN) on Friday.
Schimek scored a hat trick, the second of his NCAA career. His first was on Oct. 4, 2024, against Air Force. The Mendota Heights, Minn. native also had two assists, totalling five points, the first time he has done so in his NCAA career. Schimek crossed the triple-digit point threshold for his NCAA career, hitting 101.
Schimek has nine goals on the season, second-most on the team. His five points add to his team's lead of 27 this season.
Schimek was not the only player to cross the 100-point career mark in the game, as senior forward Cruz Lucius had two points, putting him exactly at 100. The Grant, Minn. native scored a goal and an assist. His 11 goals this season lead the team.
Minneapolis, Minn native Cullen Potter scored a goal and an assist. The sophomore forward has five goals in the last seven games, and the Sun Devils are 5-2 in that stretch, with all five wins coming when Potter has scored.
The trio makes up Arizona State's top line and are top three in goals, points and assists this season for the Sun Devils. Those three were completely shut out in Friday night’s loss, as Potter was the only player to register a shot in the game as he had three.
Freshman defenseman Justin Kipkie scored his first career goal. Although Kipkie is not from Minnesota, he does have ties to the state of hockey, since he is a Minnesota Wild draft pick and they control his NHL rights. After not scoring a single goal in the first 15 games of the season, the Sun Devils' defensemen have scored two goals in the last three games.
Junior center Sean McGurn and freshman forward Sam Alfano each collected an assist in the game.
The Sun Devils' power play scored on one of its two chances as Potter scored the goal. The unit went one-for-four on the weekend.
The penalty kill was successful, killing off the Bulldogs' one power play in the game. The unit allowed one goal on two chances in the series.
Two Slovakian-born goalies started in net for both teams. Sun Devil freshman Samuel Urban had a better night than Bulldog sophomore Adam Gajan. Urban allowed three goals on 40 shots, with a .925 save percentage.
Urban is 2-4-1 on the season, with a .905 save percentage and 3.67 goals against average.
The Sun Devils won 50% of their faceoffs in the game, with McGurn and Potter going over that mark and sophomore forward Logan Morrell under 50%.
This is a crucial win for Arizona State as it is down three players. Freshman forward Jack Beck missed the series with an undisclosed injury. Junior defenseman Anthony Dowd (undisclosed) and junior forward Kyle Smolen (concussion) missed Saturday’s game after playing in Friday’s game.
Sophomore forward Ty Nash, sophomore defenseman Sam Court and freshman forward Braxton Whitehead played in Beck, Dowd and Smolen’s respective spots and held up well. Their solid play is needed as Arizona State only has two more healthy players on the roster, in freshman defenseman Austin Zemlak (five games played) and junior forward Tony Achille (zero games played).
Freshman forward Justin Cloutier is no longer listed on the team's lineup card and digital roster, further hurting the team's depth. Cloutier played in four games before getting scratched due to illness.
Arizona State is off for the holidays until it plays a currently undefeated Dartmouth in the Ledyard Classic on Dec. 28 and 29.