Today’s matchup was Salute to Service Night, and ASU honored Pat Tillman by wearing his name and number during warm-ups. Before the national anthem, Mullet Arena held a moment of silence for John Garza, who served 20 years in the Tempe Fire Department and was a former U.S. Marine, who passed away yesterday after an ongoing battle with cancer. 

The first period ended scoreless, but the Sun Devils came out firing. 

“I think we came out pretty good,”  sophomore forward Cullen Potters said. “We were rolling pretty hard.” 

ASU came out fast, maintaining the momentum from last night's win, controlling possession early, and pressuring Colorado College senior goaltender Kaiden Mbereko. 

Though the first shot didn’t come until five minutes in, the Sun Devils dominated offensive zone time. 

Mbereko, however, was a brick throughout the game, making saves and giving the puck quickly to his teammates. 

“Both goalies were really sharp,” head coach Greg Powers said. “It was fun watching both of them play.” 

Discipline, an area of concern in past games, improved early, as ASU stayed out of the penalty box throughout the first period. 

That, however, changed quickly in the second. 

Less than two minutes in, freshman defender Richard Baran was called for tripping. 

Still, the Sun Devils successfully killed the penalty thanks to strong shot-blocking efforts from sophomore defenseman Brasen Boser and junior forward Kyle Smolen.
Senior defenseman Tucker Ness headed to the box at 4:41; this time, the Tigers capitalized. 

Freshman forward Tomas Mrsic tipped it past freshman goaltender Samuel Urban for the first goal of the night. Powers challenged for goaltender interference, but following a lengthy review, the goal stood. 

“It was probably 50-50 if there was goalie interference,” Powers said. “I’ve seen that called back, but I respect the call that they went with.” 

With the unsuccessful challenge counting as a timeout, Colorado College quickly struck again. 

 Sophomore defenseman Fisher Scott scored a goal, extending the Tigers' lead to 2-0. 

Momentum started again for the Sun Devils when the Tigers took back-to-back penalties by junior forward Klavs Veinbergs for unsportsmanlike conduct and sophomore forward Owen Beckner for hooking. During the stretch, Urban took a heavy hit but remained in the game, finishing with 32 saves on 35 shots. 

“He was unbelievable,” Powers said of his freshman goaltender. 

ASU finally made contact with the net in the closing minute of the second period when freshman forward Jack Beck buried one to the back. 

The Sun Devils came out strong in the third, outshooting Colorado College and limiting it to just seven shots on goal. However, penalties continued, including a two-minute interference call on sophomore defenseman Brasen Boser, who spent two minutes in the penalty box for interference. 

ASU appeared to have tied the game, but the goal was waved off for being knocked in by a glove. 

“It would have been nice to have a timeout to challenge,” Powers said.

With time winding down, the Sun Devils pulled Urban for an extra skater, but the Tigers' sophomore forward Gavin Lindberg was able to steal the puck and seal the win with an empty-netter, making it 3-1. 

Despite the loss, ASU showed times of dominance and defensive discipline that could have easily turned the game. 

“Their goalie made some big saves,” Powers said. “I don’t think we played poorly at all tonight. We played well.” 

Although the Sun Devils fell to a 3-6-1 record, there were many moments throughout the game that, if ASU had capitalized on, would’ve swung the game in ASU's favor.