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Arizona State hockey could be without a suspended player for a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

Freshman defenseman Jacob Semik was disqualified for leaving the bench Saturday in a 6-2 loss at Wisconsin. Per NCAA rule, Semik’s DQ means he must sit out the next game, which for ASU will either be in an NCAA regional or the first game of next season.

Tyler Busch and Willie Knierim will receive no supplemental discipline for their game misconduct penalties in the same game for contact to the head.

No. 14 ASU (22-11-3), which has completed its regular season, must wait until March 22 to find out if it will be among 16 teams chosen for the NCAA Tournament.

The Sun Devils are currently No. 13 in the all important Pairwise rankings and, according to College Hockey News, have a 93 percent chance of making the NCAA field (down from 99 before consecutive losses to Wisconsin).

In 2019, ASU lost its final two regular season games at Minnesota but earned its first NCAA bid with a 21-12-1 record.

The Sun Devils lost to Quinnipiac in NCAA regional play when they were without defenseman Jacob Wilson, who received a two-game suspension for contact to the head against Minnesota. Wilson missed the Quinnipiac game and the 2019-20 season opener. 

More: No. 9 ASU hockey swept by Wisconsin in regular season finale

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