Sun Devils drop opener to Penn State

A night that started out with celebration quickly turned south as Arizona State lost their first season-opening game since 2022 by a 6-3 score.

Joey Daccord was honored pregame as the first player to have his number retired in Sun Devil hockey history, and rightfully so as one of the founding fathers of this program. From the jump, the Sun Devils kept pace with Penn State, each team having a power play opportunity in the first half of the period but unable to capitalize on it.

The early turning point came just over halfway through the period when the Sun Devils were assessed a bench minor for too many men on the ice at the 10:40 mark of the period. Just 15 seconds later, Gavin McKenna disrupted a clearing attempt and made a crisp pass to Aiden Fink who buried the opening goal past the outstretched blocker of Connor Hasley. Charlie Cerrato was awarded the secondary assist on the play.

In the closing seconds of the period, Cerrato got himself a goal coming from traffic in front of Hasley to make it 2-0 with 33.7 seconds before the intermission break. Penn State's top line was wholly responsible for the scoring once again as McKenna and Fink got the assists.

The second period saw fortunes turn in favor of the Sun Devils. Penn State held the edge in play but the Devils managed to keep pace, finally breaking through at the 8:16 mark on an unassisted goal by Sam Alfano, aided by a great jumping screen by Logan Morrell.

Just over 6 minutes later, the Devils got a power play goal of their own from Sean McGurn off assists from Cullen Potter and Anthony Dowd, tying the game at 2 with 5:25 to play. 44 seconds later, Logan Morrell found the back of the net off assists from Ty Nash and Sam Alfano, putting the Devils ahead with three goals in the span of 7:03 in the second period.

That lead would not live long past the second intermission break, as the Matt DiMarsico show started in the third period.

Matt's goal tied the game just 1:11 in to the third period, with Charlie Cerrato getting his third assist of the game and JJ Wiebusch finding the scoresheet for the secondary assist. Di Marsico would put the Nittany Lions ahead for food at the 8:05 mark of the period on a carbon copy of the previous goal, assists from Cerrato and Wiebusch.

Time was not on the side of the Sun Devils and being on the penalty kill only made matters worse. Charlie Cerrato put home his second goal of the game Wiebusch's third assist of the night to all but kill any hope of a Sun Devil comeback with 1:53 remaining in regulation.

DiMarsico would complete the hat trick 42 seconds later with an empty net goal assisted by Reese Laubach, cementing the 6-3 decision and sending the Sun Devils to an 0-1-0 start on the season.

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Postgame comments by Coach Powers highlighted the emphasis on needing to minimize mistakes from younger players such as minimizing inopportune penalties and giveaways, but praised the efforts of the 4th line to turn the tide in the second period. Coach Powers praised the play of Connor Hasley, indicating that none of the goals that he allowed were truly his fault. He went on to add that the addition of 17 new players to the roster presents challenges to start but believes that this team will mesh together as the season progresses.

Junior co-captain Kyle Smolen took it upon himself on preparing the team as a captain, adding that Penn State won the first and last minutes of the [third] period with goals in each segment. He went on to add that the team needs to be more physical and get to the dirty areas of the ice to match Penn State's level of play.

Looking Ahead

The Sun Devils and Nittany Lions will face off from Mullett Arena on Saturday night at 5pm with Arizona State looking for the weekend split heading in to the Ice Breaker Tournament next weekend.