TEMPE – The No.11 Arizona State ice hockey team (14-9-1, 9-5-0 NCHC) nearly secured the series sweep over No.19 Colorado College (12-11-1, 6-7-1 NCHC) but the Tigers executed a perfect third period comeback to steal the series split. Saturday night's 5-4 loss for the Sun Devils is only their second loss in the past 13 games.
With the series split, ASU earned only three conference points to lose its sole possession at the top of the NCHC. With a sweep of Miami this weekend, Western Michigan picked up the top spot for 30 conference points and ASU moved to No. 2 in the NCHC with 28 points.
The line of Ryan Kirwan, Artem Shlaine and Charlie Schoen were responsible for all four of the Sun Devils goals and the skaters each posted an individual +3 plus/minus. Kirwan and Schoen teamed up for a pair of goals apiece, while Shlaine added two assists of his own.
Gibson Homer tied a season high 36 saves, and remained flawless on the penalty kill, stopping all eight shots he faced and leaving CC at 0/4 on the man-advantage. ASU struggled at the dot, winning only 33 percent of battles in the faceoff circle.
CLUTCH KIRWAN
Ryan Kirwan, the Hobey Baker nominee, continued his hot streak despite Saturday night's loss. He extended his point scoring streak to four games, including nine points from five goals and four assists.
GAME NOTABLES
First Period
The first period saw an overly physical effort right out of the gate. ASU was awarded the first special teams opportunity of the night off of a steal by Bennett Schimek in the neutral zone that resulted in a CC penalty at 4:02. The Sun Devils wasted no time as Ryan Kirwan found the back of the net on a smooth one-timer set up by Noah Beck and Lukas Sillinger to break open the scoring, 1-0, at 4:28. The middle half of the frame remained physical as the sides went back and forth, with the Sun Devils generating a slew of chances. As the period was winding down, CC got its first shot on special teams due to an ASU trip at 18:20. Gibson Homer and the rest of the Sun Devil PK unit staved off a flurry of shots including 9 blocks in the period to keep things at 1-0 to end the first. The Sun Devils outshot the Tigers 11-9, but remained on the kill heading into the second.
Second Period
ASU closed out the remaining 20 seconds of their penalty kill to kick off the second period and get back to even strength. A quick Sun Devil attack led to a tic-tac-toe goal buried by Ryan Kirwan with assists coming from Artem Shlaine and Charlie Schoen. Kirwan's second lamp-lighter of the night gave ASU the 2-0 advantage at 1:53 in the period. The Sun Devils went back onto the penalty kill just seconds after extending their lead, but once again held firm on special teams. The Sun Devil penalty kill was once again put to the test due to a hold on Kyle Smolen at the 10:18 mark, giving the Tigers their third power play of the game. As Smolen's minor wound down, ASU reset its penalty kill by committing a bench minor for too many men on the ice. This was the fourth power play chance for CC. Homer once again rose to the occasion, denying the Tigers anything to show for another PP opportunity while keeping his squad ahead 2-0. The Sun Devil goaltender made 16 saves throughout the defensive period. CC overtook the lead in shots, outpacing ASU 16-8 in the period and 25-19 in the game as the score held at 2-0 going into the final frame.
Third Period
The Tigers hit back quickly in the third scoring in just 19 seconds to cut the lead down to 2-1. The Sun Devils wasted no time to even things up in the period as Charlie Schoen tapped home his second goal of the season to retake the two goal advantage. Shlaine found Schoen on the entry pass leaving a wide open cage to extend the lead to 3-1 at 1:43. Chaos ensued minutes later as three goals were scored in just 59 seconds with Schoen netting his second on the night on yet another assist by Kirwan and a secondary assist by Brasen Boser. The Tigers struck back quickly, however, taking the three-goal deficit back down to one. CC put the foot on the gas, keeping ASU's defense on the ropes and finding the tying goal after an offensive barrage, to put things at 4-4. The Tigers offense continued to have the Sun Devils on their heels as they scored the go-ahead goal at 14:37, giving them the 5-4 lead. ASU pulled netminder Gibson Homer at 18:24 for the final push of regulation. The Sun Devils put the pressure on, but ultimately fell short, dropping this one 5-4.
UP NEXT
ASU will hit the road for a weekend series against Miami. Both games will be streamed via NCHC.tv in addition to the radio call on FOX SPORTS 910 (KGME).
QUOTES
Head coach Greg Powers
On what changed in the third period:
"I think they were desperate. They were desperate and we looked like a team that took winning for granted. It's a great lesson because it's hard to win. It's hard to win in this league. It's hard to win in college hockey. You go 4-1 and you think it's going to be easy and again, credit to them, they didn't go away and found a way to claw back and get a big win."
On what was good from the game:
"Penalty kill was good, but you don't want to see it as much as we saw it. We killed so much in the second that it gassed some of our guys. It messes up the flow of the game. It's a lot like the second North Dakota game, where you have a period where you're spending it chasing and gassing guys on the kill and we just never found the flow. It's disappointing. You go 4-1 and you have to find a way to finish, but I'm excited to see how we bounce back."
Senior Forward Ryan Kirwan
On what went wrong in the final period:
"I think we kind of just sat on our heels a little bit. We're going to be in that situation a lot this year, hopefully, so we've just got to give it to him, play sound defensively and play a full 60 (minutes). That's what it comes down to because winning in this league is so hard."
Junior Forward Charlie Schoen
On scoring two goals in tonight's game:
"It feels good just to get that out of the way. I feel like I've been trying my best to stay focused on the process and know eventually the production will come. Luckily, I have great linemates who keep me in check and definitely help keep the mental side of it good for me. But, it's definitely great to get that out of the way and now I can play free and play with some confidence."
With the series split, ASU earned only three conference points to lose its sole possession at the top of the NCHC. With a sweep of Miami this weekend, Western Michigan picked up the top spot for 30 conference points and ASU moved to No. 2 in the NCHC with 28 points.
The line of Ryan Kirwan, Artem Shlaine and Charlie Schoen were responsible for all four of the Sun Devils goals and the skaters each posted an individual +3 plus/minus. Kirwan and Schoen teamed up for a pair of goals apiece, while Shlaine added two assists of his own.
Gibson Homer tied a season high 36 saves, and remained flawless on the penalty kill, stopping all eight shots he faced and leaving CC at 0/4 on the man-advantage. ASU struggled at the dot, winning only 33 percent of battles in the faceoff circle.
CLUTCH KIRWAN
Ryan Kirwan, the Hobey Baker nominee, continued his hot streak despite Saturday night's loss. He extended his point scoring streak to four games, including nine points from five goals and four assists.
- Senior forward Ryan Kirwan's two-goal effort was his fourth multi-goal game of the 2024-25 season and the 10th of his career. Kirwan now leads the Sun Devils with the most multi-goal games of the season (4), surpassing fellow linemate Artem Shlaine (3).
- Over his four-year career, Kirwan's teams are now 9-1-0 when he tallies more than one goal in a single game.
- Kirwan tallied two assists in his four-point performance (2G, 2A). This was the second four-point game of Kirwan's career. His only other career four-point night dated back to Jan. 26, 2024 against Army in his time with Penn State.
- This was the third four-point performance of the season by an ASU skater, as Artem Shlaine most recently recorded four-points (1G, 3A) on Jan. 18, 2025 at No. 15 St. Cloud State (W, 5-3).
- Kirwan reached a milestone of 50 career goals between his tenure at ASU and Penn State with his second goal at 1:53 of the second period.
GAME NOTABLES
- ASU has 21 power play goals on the season for a 27.6 percent success rate which is tied fifth in the country. The team has notched a power play in eight consecutive games dating back to Saturday night at Robert Morris on Jan. 3, 2025. The eight game streak includes 12 PPG.
- Charlie Schoen notched his second two-goal game of his career and first multi-goal game of the season. The two goal performance was his first since 2/24/24 at Alaska (W, 4-3). This was also Schoen's first multi-point game of the season (2G, 1A) and his seventh multi-point game of his career.
- Graduate forward Artem Shlaine has been on a tear offensively, extending his point streak to six games. In those six games, he recorded 12 points and three consecutive games with two-plus points. He recorded at least a point in 12 of his last 13 games, for a total of 21 points in the 13-game stretch.
- ASU is 9-1-0 when leading after two periods of play and 13-2-0 when scoring the first goal of the game. Before Saturday night's contest, ASU had not lost a game when leading after two periods of play.
- 36 saves is the most for an ASU goaltender this season. Luke Pavicich reached that mark earlier in the season at Providence and tonight, Gibson Homer tied the stops with 36 against the Tigers on Saturday. This is Homer's third game in a row where he made 30+ saves.
First Period
The first period saw an overly physical effort right out of the gate. ASU was awarded the first special teams opportunity of the night off of a steal by Bennett Schimek in the neutral zone that resulted in a CC penalty at 4:02. The Sun Devils wasted no time as Ryan Kirwan found the back of the net on a smooth one-timer set up by Noah Beck and Lukas Sillinger to break open the scoring, 1-0, at 4:28. The middle half of the frame remained physical as the sides went back and forth, with the Sun Devils generating a slew of chances. As the period was winding down, CC got its first shot on special teams due to an ASU trip at 18:20. Gibson Homer and the rest of the Sun Devil PK unit staved off a flurry of shots including 9 blocks in the period to keep things at 1-0 to end the first. The Sun Devils outshot the Tigers 11-9, but remained on the kill heading into the second.
Second Period
ASU closed out the remaining 20 seconds of their penalty kill to kick off the second period and get back to even strength. A quick Sun Devil attack led to a tic-tac-toe goal buried by Ryan Kirwan with assists coming from Artem Shlaine and Charlie Schoen. Kirwan's second lamp-lighter of the night gave ASU the 2-0 advantage at 1:53 in the period. The Sun Devils went back onto the penalty kill just seconds after extending their lead, but once again held firm on special teams. The Sun Devil penalty kill was once again put to the test due to a hold on Kyle Smolen at the 10:18 mark, giving the Tigers their third power play of the game. As Smolen's minor wound down, ASU reset its penalty kill by committing a bench minor for too many men on the ice. This was the fourth power play chance for CC. Homer once again rose to the occasion, denying the Tigers anything to show for another PP opportunity while keeping his squad ahead 2-0. The Sun Devil goaltender made 16 saves throughout the defensive period. CC overtook the lead in shots, outpacing ASU 16-8 in the period and 25-19 in the game as the score held at 2-0 going into the final frame.
Third Period
The Tigers hit back quickly in the third scoring in just 19 seconds to cut the lead down to 2-1. The Sun Devils wasted no time to even things up in the period as Charlie Schoen tapped home his second goal of the season to retake the two goal advantage. Shlaine found Schoen on the entry pass leaving a wide open cage to extend the lead to 3-1 at 1:43. Chaos ensued minutes later as three goals were scored in just 59 seconds with Schoen netting his second on the night on yet another assist by Kirwan and a secondary assist by Brasen Boser. The Tigers struck back quickly, however, taking the three-goal deficit back down to one. CC put the foot on the gas, keeping ASU's defense on the ropes and finding the tying goal after an offensive barrage, to put things at 4-4. The Tigers offense continued to have the Sun Devils on their heels as they scored the go-ahead goal at 14:37, giving them the 5-4 lead. ASU pulled netminder Gibson Homer at 18:24 for the final push of regulation. The Sun Devils put the pressure on, but ultimately fell short, dropping this one 5-4.
UP NEXT
ASU will hit the road for a weekend series against Miami. Both games will be streamed via NCHC.tv in addition to the radio call on FOX SPORTS 910 (KGME).
QUOTES
Head coach Greg Powers
On what changed in the third period:
"I think they were desperate. They were desperate and we looked like a team that took winning for granted. It's a great lesson because it's hard to win. It's hard to win in this league. It's hard to win in college hockey. You go 4-1 and you think it's going to be easy and again, credit to them, they didn't go away and found a way to claw back and get a big win."
On what was good from the game:
"Penalty kill was good, but you don't want to see it as much as we saw it. We killed so much in the second that it gassed some of our guys. It messes up the flow of the game. It's a lot like the second North Dakota game, where you have a period where you're spending it chasing and gassing guys on the kill and we just never found the flow. It's disappointing. You go 4-1 and you have to find a way to finish, but I'm excited to see how we bounce back."
Senior Forward Ryan Kirwan
On what went wrong in the final period:
"I think we kind of just sat on our heels a little bit. We're going to be in that situation a lot this year, hopefully, so we've just got to give it to him, play sound defensively and play a full 60 (minutes). That's what it comes down to because winning in this league is so hard."
Junior Forward Charlie Schoen
On scoring two goals in tonight's game:
"It feels good just to get that out of the way. I feel like I've been trying my best to stay focused on the process and know eventually the production will come. Luckily, I have great linemates who keep me in check and definitely help keep the mental side of it good for me. But, it's definitely great to get that out of the way and now I can play free and play with some confidence."