The last time the Sun Devils lost at a tournament they hosted was the 2023 Desert Classic, when they took home third place. 

Since then, ASU has gone undefeated in home tournaments, and the 2025 Ice Breaker Classic was no exception.

After defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Friday night, the Sun Devils were set to face the Nanooks for the trophy, after Alaska stunned the No. 8 Quinnipiac Bobcats.

ASU’s power play was the hero of the game, going 5-9 on the man advantage after going 2-18 to start the season, with every goal scored against Alaska occurring with a man up.

“It was a little bit of puck luck and just simplifying, getting pucks to the net,” head coach Greg Powers said. “I’m really relieved that the power play stepped up like it did, but we still got a lot of work to do on it.”

Like every matchup so far this season, the Sun Devils went into the third period with the lead. 

Unlike the heartbreak they faced in their opening series against Penn State, where the Nittany Lions were able to come back in both games in the third, ASU came out victorious, adding three goals to its lead.

“We’ve had four games against good teams, and we’ve been in the lead going into every third period,” Powers said. “I think that is the glaring positive so far throughout the season.”

It was senior left wing Cruz Lucius who decided the game for the Sun Devils, scoring the first hat trick of the season in the last 20 minutes of play.

“It happened really fast, obviously, I think just the way my line was playing, that kind of thing was just coming for us,”  Lucius said. “Obviously, it’s good to see them go in, but having those chances is what matters most.”

The vet currently leads the team in goals with all four of his points being lamp lighters.

While Lucius was among the vets who stepped up this weekend, after that group of older guys flew under the radar in their series against Penn State, five of ASU’s juniors and seniors combined for nine of their 15 total points, with five of those points coming from their top line consisting of Lucius, junior center Sean McGurn and senior right wing Bennett Schimek.

“You need your vets to step up and lead the group, and do great things, and tonight, really the whole weekend, they did a good job of it,” Powers said.  “They need to pull the train for our young guys. It was a team weekend in every way, but the vets got going and we’re going to need them going up against Augustana.”

While it was a night of firsts, senior goaltender Connor Hasley claimed his first victory as a starter for the Sun Devils.

“I’m ecstatic,” Hasley said.  “I’m so happy to get the first one under my belt, and I think with the group we have, we've got a lot more in us, so I can’t wait to keep it going.”

Hasley spent the full 60 in the crease and allowed only two goals on 36 shots faced, ending the night with a save percentage of .944.

Winning the trophy this weekend will be key to the team's morale moving forward, as the Sun Devils will face Augustana in their first series away from the Inferno next weekend.

“We wanted a trophy and that’s what we wanted to do with this young team, and we’re real proud of them,” Powers said. “We got a lot of work to do. We’re going to be a work in progress for a little bit, but it’s always good when you can learn while you win, and we’re good enough to do that.”