TEMPE – Friday the 13th is a night for the Devils as Arizona State men's ice hockey (1-0-0) defeated No. 15 Merrimack College (0-1-0), 1-0, in an overtime nailbiter at Mullett Arena. Senior alternate captain Matthew Kopperud haunted the Warriors through 60 minutes of regulation, finally putting the nail in the coffin with the sole goal of the game.
Goaltender TJ Semptimphelter completed his sixth career shutout in the maroon and gold. The New Jersey native made 31 saves as he inched closer to Sun Devil Hockey alum Joey Daccord's all-time shutout record of eight games.
ASU's all-time program record in overtime games improved to 16-12-16 and the victory became the Sun Devils' first season opening win since 2021.
The Sun Devils are 2-0 in home openers at Mullett Arena - both times, ASU completed a shutout of its opponent. Last year, ASU defeated Colgate, 2-0, on Oct. 14, 2022.
FIRST PERIOD
Merrimack brought the intensity first, setting the pace for the opening 10 minutes of the first period. The Warriors put up 15 shots to ASU's 8. With the legs loose, the Sun Devils outmatch the Warriors tempo to close out the period and keep the game, 0-0. Penalties came from both sides towards the end of the period, resulting in two send offs including ASU's Ty Murchison and and MC's Matt Copponi. Murchison led the country in penalties with 47 and penalty minutes with 165 last season.
SECOND PERIOD
Despite the battling on the ice, both ASU and MC refrained from lighting the lamp. Semptimphelter put up another clean sheet to hold the score at zero apiece. Seniors Tim Lovell and Ryan O'Reilly each had penalties of their own in the second period, both for tripping. MC also added three penalties for charging, tripping and cross checking. Neither team could convert on the man advantage through 10 penalty minutes in the second.
THIRD PERIOD
The flurry of penalties continued into the final frame and ASU enjoyed three power play opportunities that came up empty. The penalty kill squad stayed perfect on the night, killing off three MC man-advantage chances.
OVERTIME
Ryan Alexander, Tim Lovell and Charlie Schoen were the first trio to take the ice in overtime. Thirty-four seconds into extra time, MC committed a tripping penalty which brought play to four-on-three. Matthew Kopperud, Brian Chambers, Tim Lovell, and Alex Young laid on the firepower through two minutes of man-advantage but couldn't beat MC's netminder. Two minutes and 33 seconds into overtime, Kopperud cleaned up a scrappy play in the crease for the sole goal of the game. He was assisted by Tim Lovell and Brian Chambers.
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
Head Coach Greg Powers
Coach Powers on Kopperud
"He's gone through so much, just glad he got one. Got off to a good start and once he starts to feel like he's going to go in the back of the net, he really starts to play. He did some really good things tonight. Had a lot of good chances and probably hung on to the puck a little too long in some areas, but once he starts ripping it, it's gonna go in for him."
Coach Powers on what to change to get more shots on power plays (in regards to Merrimack's goalie)
"Yeah, they got to simplify, right? We've got to just converge and get pucks to the net, and they had a really good goalie- he was really, really good tonight. I think we are looking for the perfect shot because he was so sound and doing such a good job, but we've just got to put pucks on his pad and get to the net."
Coach Powers on changes going into the rest of the game after the first period
"They're a good team, right? They're a very good team. They're the NCAA tournament team. They returned a lot of players. So we knew that they were going to be good, and obviously they're ranked. But where they're really good is winning puck battles and winning races, they're really heavy on their sticks. Once we started to engage in those areas and committed to being heavier on our sticks and coming out of scrums with pucks, we started to play a lot better."
Coach Powers on TJ and his performance
"He's the backbone. When you're struggling and you have him back there to bail you out till you get it together, it's a good feeling and he did that tonight."
Coach Powers on the fourth line's performance
"They were fast and they were heavy. They were big. They played perfect. They're the perfect fourth line tonight. They gave us an identity, gave us momentum. Ryan O'Reilly was really good. He had his legs tonight. Benji (Eckerle) had his legs and was winning battles and Cole (Gordon) was just the mule that we brought him in to be and he did a hell of a job."
Junior Goaltender TJ Semptimphelter
On how he deals with the pressure and intensity in tight games like this one:
"Yeah, that was fun. That's why I'm there, right? I got asked this question too a couple of minutes ago but, no matter what, like, that's why I'm there. So something breaks down in front of me or a bad balance doesn't go our way. Like, stuff's going to happen. It's a game and, you know, I'm just happy to be playing the game I love and put my head in front of the puck."
On being away on the other end of all the action:
"Yeah, I was just joking on our way here, actually, it's like you can't really see the puck go from my angle, so as soon as I saw people would throw their hands in the air in the crowd, I was like, did we score? Let's go, that's awesome!"
Senior Forward Matthew Kopperud
On his game-winning goal:
"I mean, we had a ton of power plays, so finally at the end of the game for it, I don't think we're on the power play anymore, but to just have the momentum we carried into the zone and just ended up working out pretty kind of a lucky play how it bounced out but just happy it went in."
On being back on the ice after being out with an injury last year:
"It was awesome. It's the best feeling and there's no other feeling than being out there with a bunch of your brothers and stuff. Last year definitely was not fun at all. Sitting in the stands hurt, not being able to help your team win, so tonight to like finally be there, be in the locker room the whole time, felt good. It was a lot of fun."
Goaltender TJ Semptimphelter completed his sixth career shutout in the maroon and gold. The New Jersey native made 31 saves as he inched closer to Sun Devil Hockey alum Joey Daccord's all-time shutout record of eight games.
ASU's all-time program record in overtime games improved to 16-12-16 and the victory became the Sun Devils' first season opening win since 2021.
VICTORIOUS??#BeTheTradition /// #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/ItKDvWnMHt
— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) October 14, 2023
The Sun Devils are 2-0 in home openers at Mullett Arena - both times, ASU completed a shutout of its opponent. Last year, ASU defeated Colgate, 2-0, on Oct. 14, 2022.
FIRST PERIOD
Merrimack brought the intensity first, setting the pace for the opening 10 minutes of the first period. The Warriors put up 15 shots to ASU's 8. With the legs loose, the Sun Devils outmatch the Warriors tempo to close out the period and keep the game, 0-0. Penalties came from both sides towards the end of the period, resulting in two send offs including ASU's Ty Murchison and and MC's Matt Copponi. Murchison led the country in penalties with 47 and penalty minutes with 165 last season.
SECOND PERIOD
Despite the battling on the ice, both ASU and MC refrained from lighting the lamp. Semptimphelter put up another clean sheet to hold the score at zero apiece. Seniors Tim Lovell and Ryan O'Reilly each had penalties of their own in the second period, both for tripping. MC also added three penalties for charging, tripping and cross checking. Neither team could convert on the man advantage through 10 penalty minutes in the second.
Kill squad stays perfect??
— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) October 14, 2023
3-3 on the night, 9:33 left in the third#BeTheTradition /// #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/6JV5XyLHU8
THIRD PERIOD
The flurry of penalties continued into the final frame and ASU enjoyed three power play opportunities that came up empty. The penalty kill squad stayed perfect on the night, killing off three MC man-advantage chances.
Home opener ?? OT
— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) October 14, 2023
Get ready for some 3-on-3 hockey!#BeTheTradition /// #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/fHbUlxLMTX
OVERTIME
Ryan Alexander, Tim Lovell and Charlie Schoen were the first trio to take the ice in overtime. Thirty-four seconds into extra time, MC committed a tripping penalty which brought play to four-on-three. Matthew Kopperud, Brian Chambers, Tim Lovell, and Alex Young laid on the firepower through two minutes of man-advantage but couldn't beat MC's netminder. Two minutes and 33 seconds into overtime, Kopperud cleaned up a scrappy play in the crease for the sole goal of the game. He was assisted by Tim Lovell and Brian Chambers.
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
Head Coach Greg Powers
Coach Powers on Kopperud
"He's gone through so much, just glad he got one. Got off to a good start and once he starts to feel like he's going to go in the back of the net, he really starts to play. He did some really good things tonight. Had a lot of good chances and probably hung on to the puck a little too long in some areas, but once he starts ripping it, it's gonna go in for him."
Coach Powers on what to change to get more shots on power plays (in regards to Merrimack's goalie)
"Yeah, they got to simplify, right? We've got to just converge and get pucks to the net, and they had a really good goalie- he was really, really good tonight. I think we are looking for the perfect shot because he was so sound and doing such a good job, but we've just got to put pucks on his pad and get to the net."
Coach Powers on changes going into the rest of the game after the first period
"They're a good team, right? They're a very good team. They're the NCAA tournament team. They returned a lot of players. So we knew that they were going to be good, and obviously they're ranked. But where they're really good is winning puck battles and winning races, they're really heavy on their sticks. Once we started to engage in those areas and committed to being heavier on our sticks and coming out of scrums with pucks, we started to play a lot better."
Coach Powers on TJ and his performance
"He's the backbone. When you're struggling and you have him back there to bail you out till you get it together, it's a good feeling and he did that tonight."
Coach Powers on the fourth line's performance
"They were fast and they were heavy. They were big. They played perfect. They're the perfect fourth line tonight. They gave us an identity, gave us momentum. Ryan O'Reilly was really good. He had his legs tonight. Benji (Eckerle) had his legs and was winning battles and Cole (Gordon) was just the mule that we brought him in to be and he did a hell of a job."
Junior Goaltender TJ Semptimphelter
On how he deals with the pressure and intensity in tight games like this one:
"Yeah, that was fun. That's why I'm there, right? I got asked this question too a couple of minutes ago but, no matter what, like, that's why I'm there. So something breaks down in front of me or a bad balance doesn't go our way. Like, stuff's going to happen. It's a game and, you know, I'm just happy to be playing the game I love and put my head in front of the puck."
On being away on the other end of all the action:
"Yeah, I was just joking on our way here, actually, it's like you can't really see the puck go from my angle, so as soon as I saw people would throw their hands in the air in the crowd, I was like, did we score? Let's go, that's awesome!"
Senior Forward Matthew Kopperud
On his game-winning goal:
"I mean, we had a ton of power plays, so finally at the end of the game for it, I don't think we're on the power play anymore, but to just have the momentum we carried into the zone and just ended up working out pretty kind of a lucky play how it bounced out but just happy it went in."
On being back on the ice after being out with an injury last year:
"It was awesome. It's the best feeling and there's no other feeling than being out there with a bunch of your brothers and stuff. Last year definitely was not fun at all. Sitting in the stands hurt, not being able to help your team win, so tonight to like finally be there, be in the locker room the whole time, felt good. It was a lot of fun."