The high in Colorado Springs, Colo., today was 58 degrees with a low of 32. A near 800-mile drive to Tempe, Arizona, and it’s sunny and a high of 84 and a brisk wind.
It’s not your average hockey weather, especially in the month of November, but in Tempe, this is practically year-round.
Related: Sparky’s Notebook: Powers, Schimek, Beck & More
With the clear skies and picture-perfect conditions in Tempe, the Arizona State Sun Devils completed a three-goal comeback against the No. 20 Colorado College Tigers, ultimately winning in the shootout 4-3.
Arizona State Wins 4-3 in Shootout Over No. 20 Colorado College
The game, however, is considered a tie in the NCAA (but a win in the NCHC is worth two points). Head coach Greg Powers liked the game but knows there’s much more to it than the thrilling finish.
“I guess, as embarrassed as I was about our effort in the first I’m even more proud of how we came back and found a way to get two points tonight,” Powers said following the game. “Really proud of the guys.”
The Sun Devils haven’t played at Mullett Arena since they won the 2025 Ice Breaker Tournament against Alaska-Fairbanks on Oct. 11.
Amid the hiatus, the Sun Devils weren’t able to get things off to the right foot, surrendering three first-period goals.
“It was the same kind of downward spiral that we experienced at Miami with a really bad first period and one mistake became two, became three, became four, probably became seven, eight,” Powers said. “They were really good.”
Sophomore forward Owen Beckner and junior forward Drew Montgomery kicked things off for the Tigers followed by sophomore forward Gavin Lindberg’s power-play goal.
Despite the hot start for the Tigers, ASU freshman goaltender Samuel Urban stood strong following the first period.
“I gave a couple s***** ones,” Urban said, laughing. “So I try to stay positive. (I) look on the board and think it’s 0-0. I try to stay, make those big saves. So try to stay positive and give the team a chance to win the game.”
The Maroon & Gold clawed back in the second period, putting pressure on the Tigers’ senior netminder Kaiden Mbereko.
Jack Beck and Cruz Lucius would quickly exchange goals on the power play to put the game within striking distance. Beck’s line of Cullen Potter and Johnny Waldron was active despite not scoring five-on-five.
“(He) might be the fastest kid in college hockey, and when he uses his speed, I think he’s untouchable,” Beck said of Potter. “I know he hasn’t got in his goal groove yet, but once he does, he’s gonna start scoring almost every night.”
With 1:09 left in the third period, Powers called a timeout, looking to tie the game up late with Mullett Arena on its feet.
“We didn’t draw up any crazy faceoff play,” Powers said. “Get the puck on our stick and get it to the net. We got an extra stick on the ice, and we got a goal. It was honestly probably the first bounce we got all year but Becker (Beck) made a good play, and Shim (Schimek) had a stick on the ice.”
Bennett Schimek’s goal led to a scoreless overtime period, but ASU would come away with the win in the shootout.
Despite the tie by NCAA standards, Colorado College and Arizona State will meet again tomorrow, on Nov. 8 at 5:00 p.m. MST at Mullett Arena.
“We got to put 60 minutes together,” Powers said. “We got to have a good start. We got to have just as good of a finish. It’s pretty simple, like if we’re going to get on a roll here and start to string together some wins and be the team we know we can be, those lapses just can’t happen.”
