Junior goaltender TJ Semptimphelter finished with 28 saves, but couldn't maintain the Sun Devil lead as Arizona State dropped its first game of the season to Miami (Ohio) in overtime. (Hana Kaufman / Inferno Intel)
The Miami (Ohio) RedHawks (4-1-0) erased a three-goal third-period deficit to defeat the No. 13 Arizona State Sun Devils (4-1-0) in overtime 5-4 on Friday at Cady Arena in Oxford, Ohio.
Miami trailed 4-3 in the final minutes of the game and pulled senior goalie Logan Neaton to get an extra attacker. ASU senior goaltender TJ Semptimphelter made a series of desperate saves, but RedHawks sophomore forward William Hallén tied the game with 56 seconds remaining.
The RedHawks smelled blood in the water. Miami cleanly broke out of its own zone and sophomore forward John Waldron scored on an odd-man rush 21 seconds into the three-on-three overtime period to hand the Sun Devils its first loss of the season.
ASU appeared to be on its way to extending the historic start. Sun Devils senior forward Ty Jackson scored on the team’s first shot just over a minute into the game to give the Sun Devils an early lead.
Miami responded 10 minutes later thanks to a goal from sophomore forward Axel Kumlin. The game was tied 1-1 after the first intermission.
ASU regained the lead four minutes into the second period. Senior forward Lukas Sillinger pulled Neaton out of his crease with a delayed toe-drag across the slot and fired the puck past the netminder. Freshman forward Kyle Smollen scored nine minutes later to put the Sun Devils ahead by two goals.
Senior forward Alex Young buried home a rebound six minutes into the third period to give ASU a 4-1 lead on its lone power-play goal of the game.
One minute later, senior forward PJ Fletcher gave Miami life. The Dana Point, California native deked Semtimphelter on a quick breakaway to cut the deficit to 4-2.
Despite the two-goal lead ASU continued to play aggressively and put the pressure on the RedHawks. Junior defenseman Ty Murchison’s hooking infraction put Miami on the power play with 6:35 remaining in the game.
RedHawks junior forward Raimonds Vitolins scored on a one-timer from the left circle to make it 4-3 with just over 5:22 remaining.
In total, Miami scored three goals in the final 12 minutes to complete the comeback.
The loss continues ASU’s historical road woes. Since the 2018-2019 season the Sun Devils have a .716 winning percentage at home and a .390 winning percentage on the road. The team finished 4-11 away from Mullet Arena last year.
Friday was the Sun Devils’ first of only 10 away games this season. The game was also the first matchup between both schools. The programs will play regularly as future conference rivals with ASU’s move to the NCHC next season.
The Sun Devils will look to split the series on Saturday. Puck drop for game two is set for 5:05 p.m. MST.