TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State shut out the Miami-Ohio Redhawks on Saturday, Jan. 10, backed by a 37-save shutout performance from freshman goaltender Samuel Urban. 

The Sun Devils came into this game severely shorthanded in the forward department after losing one of their top scorers, senior forward Bennett Schimek, due to an injury sustained in Friday’s 2-1 overtime loss. 

“The message was to find a way to win ugly and not give anything up,” ASU head coach Greg Powers said. 

Ugly was a good word to describe this game, as there was an abundance of big hits and jawing back and forth amongst the players. 

Urban even ended up taking an unsportsmanlike penalty in the second after getting tripped up. 

“‘When he took that retaliatory penalty in the second to make it a five-on-three,’ I said to one of our coaches, ‘He better not let one in.’ And he didn’t. So kudos to him,” Powers said. 

Despite the final score, this was an entertaining game with back-and-forth chances and many close calls.

Both teams exchanged shots off the crossbar just a few minutes apart when it was tied at zero. 

The Redhawks thought they took the early lead in the first period on the power play after sophomore defenseman Michael Quinn ripped one past Urban; however, the Sun Devils challenged the play for a missed stoppage.

The officials ruled the puck had left the ice and hit the ASU bench prior to the goal, so the score remained scoreless all the way until the midpoint of the third period.

With 8:46 remaining in regulation, sophomore winger and Flyers product Noah Powell broke the ice for the Sun Devils, finally beating the opposing goaltender Matteo Drobac, who only gave up two goals total in both games this weekend. 

“It was pretty cool. Doing it with Mo and Alfie, and then having the rest of the guys mob me was awesome,” Powell said. “Coach told us it was probably going to be an ugly one and that we might only get one goal, so I wanted to make it count. That moment with the guys was pretty special.”

Powell hit the ice on his first shift of the game after receiving a hit, hobbled back to the bench, but nevertheless, ended up being the lone goal-scorer in this contest. 

“It was definitely one of those games where you had to embrace the gritty side of it,” Powell said. “I think we showed we can play a skill game and a gritty game. That was a good display of both. It wasn’t always pretty — taking hits, giving hits — but we stuck with it and got the win.”

On the defensive side of the puck, ASU only surrendered one goal in regulation the whole weekend. 

“Our goal was to give up less than two goals a game this weekend, and we did that,” Powers said. “If you would’ve told me we gave up one goal in regulation both nights, I would’ve thought it was a six-point weekend. We’ll take the four points.”

The shoutout performance from Urban was the first of his career. He was excellent, saving all 37 shots he faced, but he credited the defense in front of him for his success. 

“The guys helped me a lot. They blocked shots, cleared screens — the shutout’s not just on me, it’s on the whole team. The guys were really happy for me, and that meant a lot,” Urban said. 

Coach Powers also highlighted the penalty kill's success this weekend, which was perfect, as they did not give up a goal while shorthanded.

“The kill was perfect all weekend, which is huge. To get out of that stretch without getting scored on was massive. That gave us a chance to win,” Powers said.

ASU will head into a much-needed bye week, where it will have a chance to rest up before a big series against No. 4 North Dakota in Tempe in two weeks. 

This team believes they can beat anybody, especially after winning their seventh straight Saturday game.

“We’ve got a resilient team that finds ways,” Powers said.