A New Era: Sun Devils Shine Under New Coach, Sweep Weekend Series in Massachusetts
Friday represented new beginnings for the Arizona State hockey team. Saturday showed they weren't just a one-off.
In the first series under new head coach Dave Hakstol, the Sun Devils completed the sweep over UMass-Lowell on the road, their first of the season after splitting series with Lindenwood and Holy Cross. It now marks a three-game win streak for the club that may be finding its stride ahead of NCHC play.
4-2, Sun Devils, from the Tsongas Center
After a 5-4 win in the opening game of the Hakstol era on Friday, powered by five different scorers and 12 skaters registering a point, the Sun Devils started strong again, with Richard Baran scoring his first goal of the season less than four minutes into the game.
The River Hawks were eventually able to answer in the 2nd period with a Dalyn Wakely goal that got past ASU netminder Samuel Urban. He was excellent after that, though, as he allowed just one more goal and finished with 42 saves on the night, a career high for the Sophomore.
Before that period ended, it was the Sun Devils who put two more in the net, from Nathan Behm on the power play and Phillip Nordberg. Behm scored his fourth goal of the season, which leads the country for freshmen. The Blackhawks draft pick has been dominant so far, scoring in all three series of the season for Arizona State.
Both Noah Beck and Daniel Schlaine continued their hot starts as well, each tallying assists in this game. They lead the Sun Devils in points for the season, with seven and six, respectively.
UMass-Lowell cut the deficit to one early in the 3rd period, but shortly after, Ben Murthersbaugh was set up by Cade Littler for his third goal of the season and lifted ASU to a 4-2 victory. 10 different Sun Devils recorded a point, with Murthersbaugh being the only multi-point scorer, producing an assist as well.
Commitment to Excellence
Hakstol, a former North Dakota and NHL head coach, was brought in to level the ship and raise the floor for Arizona State. Through two games, he was able to do just that. He, along with his staff, came in just days before the series and came away with two victories. Now, they'll have time to fully break down the team, with two full games of film to get takeaways from as well.
"We wanted somebody to come in and really lead the room, provide stable leadership to these young men experiencing a very unique moment in their career."ASU AD Graham Rossini
What Comes Next?
Hakstol's real task starts now. After being able to take the first two games of his tenure in Lowell, he'll have a modified training camp over the next two weeks to fully assess the team and get them prepared for upcoming NCHC play.
The Sun Devils have a "bye" week upcoming, matching up perfectly for Hakstol's takeover. They will take the ice next against St. Cloud State on the road. The Sun Devils played inside Herb Brooks National Hockey Center for the first time as members of the NCHC in 2024-25, sweeping the Huskies. St. Cloud State got their revenge last season, though, sweeping Arizona State inside Mullett Arena.
Conference play will be in full swing after the "bye" as Arizona State will host Denver in Tempe at the beginning of November, followed by a trip to Minnesota-Duluth after another "bye" week.
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Fletcher Anderson is a 2025 graduate of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State, and have been reporting for newspapers and writing sports columns since 2018. He began a sports column for the Lake Minnetonka Navigator, when he was still a sophomore in high school. Since then, he has written for teams, schools, newspapers and digital sites, including Cronkite News at Arizona State. In that role he covered area high school sports as well as the Arizona State athletics. He began contributing to On SI in 2026.