University of Minnesota Athletics
MINNESOTA THUMPS MICHIGAN TECH 7-2 IN WCHA PLAYOFF ACTION
3/9/2001 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
The Golden Gophers got on the board early as senior Stuart Senden knocked in a one-timer at 00:58 of the first period on assists from Matt Koalska and Nick Anthony. It was Senden's first goal since notching a hat trick on Dec. 9 versus Quinnipiac. Gold Country got its second goal on the power play at 8:55 of the first stanza behind freshman Grant Potulny's redirection of a Jordan Leopold shot from the point. With the goal, Potulny moves into a tie for fourth on Minnesota's single-season power-play goal list.
The Maroon and Gold extended its lead to three at 10:11 of the first period as sophomore Jeff Taffe chipped in a backhand to the top shelf on assists from John Pohl and Paul Martin. The Huskies responded two mintues later with a deflected power play goal by Brett Engelhardt. Anthony closed out the scoring at 13:03 of the first period, using a spin-o-rama and a backhander to beat MTU goaltender Brian Rogers.
The second period's lone scoring came on a Minnesota power play as senior Dylan Mills scored his second goal of the year with a shot from the point which deflected off a Husky player. Michigan Tech's Jarrett Weinberger notched the second Husky goal at 16:18 of the third period, but it proved to be too little, too late as Minnesota scored twice in the final three minutes.
Freshman Troy Riddle scored his 15th goal of the season at 17:27 to move the score to 6-2. Westrum assisted on the marker. Defenseman Nick Angell closed out the scoring on the night with a wrist shot from the point which found the top corner of the net at 18:13. Ben Tharp and Westrum notched assists.
Golden Gopher goaltender stopped 14 of 16 shots on the night while Minnesota outshot the Huskies 25-16. The two teams face off again Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. from Mariucci Arena in the first round of the WCHA Playoffs.
