University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Earn A 4-2 Win Over Minnesota-Duluth
2/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
The No. 2 Golden Golden Gophers earned a 4-2 win over Minnesota- Duluth today at Mariucci Arena. The Gophers held a 3-0 lead at one point in the second period. Minnesota improves to 23-4-2 overall and 16-3-2 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. UMD dropped to 17-10-2 and 13-7-1 in the conference.
Minnesota was outshot 10-6, but Gopher goalie Jody Horak stopped the Bulldogs, while the two teams went scoreless.
However, the flood gates opened for Minnesota in the second period. Andrea Nichols tallied her ninth goal of the season at 1:24 of the second. Nichols tipped in a rebound shot, while linemates La Toya Clarke and Becky Wacker added the assists. The Gophers would then tack on a goal at 8:00, when Natalie Darwitz scored her 19th goal of the season. Kelly Stephens and Ashley Albrecht were credited with the assists.
Clarke added a goal of her own at 9:34 again in the second. Clarke blocked a shot by Julianne Vasichek at the blue line and skated in for an unassisted goal. It was Clarke's 19th goal of the season. The Gophers allowed their first power-play goal in five games at 17:06 of the second. The last time Minnesota allowed a power-play goal was against Dartmouth on Feb. 8 in a Gopher 7-3 win.
However, the Gophers bounced back and put the game back to a three- goal deficit :49 later. Albrecht scored her first goal of the season at 17:55 when she tipped in the puck after Nichols had the inital shot.
Minnesota held on to the 4-1 lead until 19:24 of the third. The Bulldogs added their second goal of the game at 19:24 on a four-on- three opportunity, but it wasn't enough for the win.
Horak was named the first star of the game when she had 10 saves in the first, 12 in the second and nine in the third for a total of 31. Minnesota was 0-3 on the power play, while UMD was 2-6. The Gophers fired five shots, while the Bulldogs scored two goals on 13 chances with the extra person.
The Gophers will look for a series sweep tomorrow, at 2:05 p.m. The game will be back in Ridder Arena. Sunday's game will also be televised live on Fox Sports Net North.
