The high today in Colorado Springs, Colorado was 58 degrees with a low of 32 degrees. A nearly 800-mile drive to Tempe, Arizona, and it’s sunny, a high of 84 degrees and a brisk wind.
It’s not your average hockey weather, especially in November, but in Tempe it’s pretty much all year round.
Related: Sparky’s Notebook: Powers, Schimek, Beck & More
With clear skies and perfect photo conditions in Tempe, the Arizona State Sun Devils completed a comeback with three goals against the No. 20 Colorado College Tigersand eventually won 4–3 in the shootout.
Arizona State wins 4-3 in shootout over No. 20 Colorado College
However, the match 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 is much more to it than the exciting finish.
“I think as embarrassed as I was with our effort in the first, I’m even more proud of the way we came back and found a way to get two points tonight,” Powers said after the game. “Really proud of the boys.”
The Sun Devils haven’t played at Mullett Arena since getting the win Icebreaker Tournament 2025 against Alaska-Fairbanks on October 11.
During the stoppage, the Sun Devils failed to get things going the right way, giving up three goals in the first period.
“It was the same kind of downward spiral that we went through in 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 goalie Samuel Urban stood strong after the first period.
“I gave them a few,” Urban said, laughing. “So I try to stay positive. I look at 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 Tigers senior netminder Kaiden Mbereko.
Jack Beck and Cruz Lucius quickly traded goals on the power play to bring the game within striking distance. Beck’s line of Cullen Potter and Johnny Waldron was active despite not scoring five-a-side.
“(He) might be the fastest guy in college hockey, and when he uses his speed, I think he’s untouchable,” Beck said of Potter. “I know he’s not in his goal range yet, but once he does, he’ll start scoring almost every night.”
With 1:09 left in the third period, Powers called a timeout, hoping to tie the game late with Mullett Arena on its feet.
“We didn’t come up with some crazy faceoff play,” Powers said. “Get the puck on our stick and make it go to the net. We got an extra stick on the ice and we scored a goal. Honestly, it was probably the first time we bounced all year, but Becker (Beck) played well and Shim (Schimek) had a stick on the ice.”
Bennett Schimek’s goal led to a scoreless overtime, 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, November 8 at 5:00 PM MST at Mullett Arena.
“We have to put 60 minutes together,” Powers said. “We need to have a good start. We need to have an equally good finish. It’s pretty simple, like if we want to get off to a good start here and string together some wins and be the team we know we can be, those mistakes just can’t happen.”
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